Pictured (L-R) Bill Duey (Executive Director, Fit-2-Serve) and Fit-2-Serve volunteers Mavis Bagby and Erin Clifford accepted grants from the Mattoon Area CommunityWorks Fund and Consolidated Communications Fund for Economic Development and Leadership from Steve Matheny, member of the Mattoon Area Community Foundation board.
Fit-2-Serve is the recipient of two grants totaling $5000 from the Mattoon Area Community Foundation to expand its community garden and leadership development training programs.
The Mattoon Area CommunityWorks Fund awarded Fit-2-Serve with a $1,500 grant for its Early Childhood Education Gardening 101 Program. This program is a part of the Sustainable Food Center and community gardening program. The Sustainable Food Center and community garden program were established in 2014 to create a perpetual response to food insecurity. Executive Director Bill Duey saw the garden as an opportunity to teach valuable life lessons to volunteers, including younger generations. With that in mind, the Experiential Education for Early Childhood Education: Gardening 101 Program was created. This program is designed for children ages 3-6 and teaches them lessons about preparation, action, reflection, and celebration using the garden as an alternative classroom.
Fit-2-Serve is also the recipient of a $3,500 grant for its Collaborative Strength-Based Leadership Development Program through the Consolidated Communications Fund for Economic Development and Community Leadership.
The Collaborative Strength-Based Leadership Development Program has been established to promote strengths-based leadership development for the students involved in the Family and Consumer Sciences Club at Mattoon High School. Students in the club will have the opportunity to take the Strengths Quest/Strengths Finder inventory (developed by Gallup) to determine their strengths and then learn how to develop those strengths and engage with others. The goals for this leadership program are the development of self-efficacy and leadership for students and to instill a shift in service (towards the material poor) in the minds of student members of Family and Consumer Sciences Club from “relief” to rehabilitation and development, with the intent that this will create a cultural shift within the community at large in serving the material poor.
Fit-2-Serve of Mattoon is a non-profit organization committed to the development of physical, intellectual, and spiritual wellness for Mattoon area community members.
The Consolidated Communications Fund for Economic Development and Leadership was developed to both recognize the good works of area non-profits and to provide incentive to achieve the fullest community potential. It provides financial support for leadership training and development for non-profit organizations in Coles County.
The Mattoon Area CommunityWorks Fund and the Consolidated Communications Fund for Economic Development and Leadership are two of the many grant-making funds managed by the Southeastern Illinois Community Foundation. For more information, contact Janeen Emory-Kolb at 217-342-4988 or by e-mail (jemorykolb@enrichingourcommunity.org).
