Grant Stories

The playground at Westside Elementary school was aging - and the older equipment was beginning to pose safety concerns. Furthermore, many kids were spending much of their recess time waiting in line for the limited number of swings available. Seeing the need for updated and expanded playground equipment that would enable kids to be able to make the most of their recess time, the school's PTO got to work raising funds. They sought a grant from CHC Foundation to help cover the costs of upgrading the equipment, pointing to research that shows the value of recess on academic and social outcomes for elementary-aged kiddos. CHC was happy to grant funds to help pay for the project. 

Mountain Bike the Tetons is a nonprofit organization that manages 100 miles of wilderness trails, keeping them safe and functional for hikers, runners, equestrians, adaptive athletes, mountain bikers, and motorized trail users. 

They clear downed trees, construct water drainage systems, cut back encroaching vegetation, improve trail surfaces, design/build trail reroutes to reduce soil erosion, and repair infrastructure, such as signs, bridges, and culverts. This supports the environment while also enabling people to access nature and support their own health and well-being through healthy recreational activities. 

With recent cuts in to the National Forest Service personnel and trail maintenance staff, the need for efficiency in trail maintenance is greater than ever. These trails are primarily accessed on mountain bikes - and an electric bike makes it possible to access them much more quickly, cutting travel time in half. Recently MBT was able to purchase a discounted electric bike but lacked the funds to purchase a second one, along with some trail management tools, that would make it usable for a team of two. CHC Foundation was able to provide a grant to Mountain Bike the Tetons to make this purchase possible. 

Agricultural science courses at Sugar-Salem High School have been growing in popularity over the past several years. Student enrollment in plant and soil science classes was capped at 40-50 students/year, but wait lists for classes showed many more students seeking to enroll in these classes. 

Desiring to accommodate growing demand and enable more students to engage with the agricultural sciences, staff and faculty in the ag department determined that a greenhouse upgrade would increase usable growing space and extend the growing season, which would allow the school to accommodate an additional 100-120 students per year. An added benefit to this upgrade was increasing the district's capacity to offer more STEM classes and programs for both students and community members. 

The greenhouse's maintenance costs are self-sustaining: income from sales of the plants and floral arrangements produced by students in the greenhouse pay for utilities, supplies, and general upkeep. 

CHC Foundation was able to contribute to this upgrade with a grant that supported the purchase and installation of sixteen space-saving rolling tables. We're pretty excited about the results. Happy gardening, Sugar-Salem High students! 

"A kid on ice is a kid out of hot water." 

This is the motto of the Salmon Hockey Association, an volunteer-based nonprofit located in Salmon, Idaho that maintains a free outdoor hockey rink and a busy youth hockey program. 

The Association, which has been around for nearly forty years, maintains a professional affiliation under USA Hockey and makes hockey accessible to youth and adults from all socioeconomic circumstances.

Over 100 kids were enrolled in last year's program, with practices being led by volunteer coaches 2-4 times/week. An additional 175 kids accessed the rink through school programs. The program hosts 8 tournaments and 160 games during the hockey season. The revenue brought into this small, rural community by hockey tourists is significant. 

When it's not being used for games and practices, the rink is also available for residents of Lemhi County to use at no cost, and it's not uncommon to see 10-20 people from the community using the ice during the winter.  

The rink had been originally built using a sand base enclosed by plywood panels, topped with chain-link fencing. It was an energy inefficient set-up that that required many hours of volunteer labor to properly maintain and a significant amount of money to maintain. Additionally, all of the components of this base were worn out. 

The Salmon Hockey Association sought a grant from CHC Foundation to help pay for the costs associated with upgrading the rink to one with a new insulated concrete surface. This upgrade would not only cut energy usage in half and sharply reduce the labor needed to maintain the rink, it would also make it possible for the community host additional tournaments - AND make the rink usable during the summer for roller-skaters. 

CHC Foundation was delighted to donate a portion of the funds needed to make this upgrade possible. 

The Idaho Falls Youth Hockey Association (IFYHA) is a nonprofit organization aimed at helping kids build relationships, learn about teamwork, and experience growth through playing hockey. The organization is aimed at ensuring that all kids who want to play hockey CAN play hockey, regardless of experience level, skill level, or economic resources. 

In order to achieve these aims, the organization relies heavily on fundraisers and donations to meet their many expenses. Gear is made available to participants for a small rental fee. Typically this gear-rental program is financially self-sustaining, but because of a recent surge of interest in hockey among youth in Idaho Falls, the need for gear suddenly increased significantly, beyond IFYHA's budget capacity. 

Fortunately, CHC Foundation was able to help IFYHA purchase more gear for their kids. As a bonus, the gear was purchased locally, at Kicks and Sticks, owned by Arturo Santillan, pictured above with Kylie Robinson (the president of IFYHA) and Amanda Raymond, who wrote the grant proposal. 

Hospice and Palliative Care of Eastern Idaho was founded to help support terminally ill patients and their families, regardless of their ability to pay. It is the only nonprofit hospice organization in Southeast Idaho. For the past twenty-five years, this organization's team has worked to provide compassionate medical, social, spiritual, and bereavement support to families across Southeast Idaho. 

HEI’s office building was beginning to look noticeably worn, with peeling and chipped paint exposing the wood underneath. Without repainting the exterior, this exposure could potentially damage the siding itself, creating the need for an early replacement.

CHC Foundation was happy to grant funds to Hospice of Eastern Idaho to help pay for the costs associated with this preventative paint job, and now the HEI office is looking crisp, refreshed, and ready to stand up to any of the freezing snow, shooting hail, sweltering heat, or fierce wind  (maybe in a single day!) Idaho decides to toss its way. 

This grant money enabled HEI to continue focusing on their mission of providing end-of-life care to everyone who needs it. Learn more about Hospice of Eastern Idaho here.  

Clark County, Idaho has the smallest population of any county in the state of Idaho. Only 800 residents dwell within its 1,765 square-mile spread of agricultural land, mountains, and desert landscape. Though its population is small, the county is popular among people engaging in outdoor recreation activities. Thousands of people visit this county every year to camp, hike, hunt, fish, ride ATVs, and more. 

Between everyday emergencies, plus agricultural and recreational accidents, Clark County Ambulance has been responding to an increasing number of emergency situations, and the all-volunteer team was often forced to navigate rough terrain that made ambulance access slow, difficult, and at times, even impossible. In situations where every minute matters, this felt unacceptable. 

Because of this, Clark County Ambulance sought a grant from CHC Foundation to help purchase a specially designed off-road vehicle that could provide safe, efficient, and life-saving transportation to both residents and visitors. CHC Foundation was happy to provide a grant that helped make this purchase happen. 

The Whitewater Therapeutic and Recreational Riding Association of Salmon, Idaho has a simple mission: “To enhance the quality of life for individuals with special needs, including youth at risk, elderly people, and veterans.” 

To achieve this mission, they’ve been providing equine-assisted activities and therapies in Lemhi and Custer County for over three decades. Equine therapy (or therapeutic horseback riding) has been shown to improve balance, muscle tone, and coordination in participants. It has also been shown to reduce anxiety, depression, and social isolation. 

This organization has a team of 20-30 volunteers who provide classes, provide care for horses, and help raise funds for the programs. It also has a team of horses who make it all possible. The program maintains a high-level accreditation to ensure that their program is meeting the highest standards. 

Wanting to provide optimal care and comfort for these gentle therapy horses, the Whitewater Therapeutic Riding Association asked CHC Foundation for a grant to help fund the construction of some additional horse shelters to help replace others that have become worn over time. 

CHCF was happy for the opportunity to help keep these therapeutic horses (and their riders) healthy and happy through helping to support the construction of two additional shelters. 

The Sacajawea Interpretive Center in Salmon, Idaho is a welcoming educational center located inside a 71-acre park. The park is filled with peaceful walking pathways that lead visitors through a lovely wooded area right next to the Lemhi River. The Interpretive Center alone, open every day between Memorial Day and Labor Day, receives almost 6,000 visitors each year - and that number doesn't reflect the number of people visiting the park's peaceful trail system regularly for exercise and recreation. The trails in the Center provide walkers of all ages and abilities access to a peaceful, beautiful forested area and an opportunity to connect with the the region's Native American heritage. These trails also makes it possible for anglers to approach the Lemhi River without needing to pay access fees. 

After 21 years of use, the "inner loop" trail at the Center needed to be resurfaced to ensure that visitors could continue to traverse these trails safety. CHC Foundation was happy to provide a grant to cover the costs of this simple but much-needed upgrade.