Twice each year, the Lower Colorado River Authority awards grants for community projects within its service area, which covers about 42,000 square miles of Texas. That means twice each year, our Connections & Community Engagement staff gets to work ensuring some of the money comes back to nonprofits in our 8,100-square-mile service area. In 2016, their work helped bring $274,161 in LCRA Community Development Partnership Program (CDPP) grants to area organizations.
“From its beginning, PEC has been about people coming together to better their community. If we can use our expertise to help bring funding for local projects, we’re eager to do it,” PEC Community & Economic Development Representative Tessa Schmidtzinsky said.
The LCRA’s grant program helps local governments and nonprofit organizations in its service area fund capital improvement projects that benefit the public. Recipient groups have included volunteer fire departments, emergency medical services, school districts, libraries, civic groups, local governments and other nonprofit organizations. Our Connections & Community Engagement team works to help bring some of those funds to our community by providing grant-writing assistance to local organizations. This can include help with paperwork, budgeting, qualifications and more.
“Our team provides assistance to eligible entities to ensure they submit thorough applications that clearly define their projects while fully articulating the needs and benefits to their communities,” Schmidtzinsky said. “By doing so, they have a much better chance of receiving grant funding.”
These are the 2016 CDPP grant projects our Connections & Community Engagement team assisted with:
Bergheim VFD: three self-contained breathing apparatuses with air cylinders and four additional air cylinders
Bulverde Spring Branch EMS: 16 new air pack systems
City of Granite Shoals: water catchment system for the Quarry Park Interpretive Center of the Wildflower Garden & Visitor Center
City of Lago Vista: Sports Complex facilities upgrades and repairs
City of Cottonwood Shores: new police patrol car
City of Dripping Springs: pavilion with benches, tables and trash receptacle at Charro Ranch Park
Kimble County Museum: water catchment system installed at the museum
Burnet VFD: new self-contained breathing apparatus bottle filling station and compressor with monitor
City of Horseshoe Bay Police Department: purchase new, portable radios for police officers
Johnson City VFD: purchase 20 handheld radios for volunteers
Liberty Hill Fire Department-WCESD No. 4: purchase 10 sets of bunker gear for paid and volunteer firefighters
Round Mountain VFD: skid unit to upgrade existing brush trucks
Wimberley Valley Radio: purchase emergency generators and propane system for the radio station and tower
For more information about PEC’s community programs, including its own Community Grants program, visit pec.coop/community.
