Foundation, Sheriff’s Office score big success with grant
Now local residents must take advantage of programs
Trending
For local communities and organizations, applying for a federal grant can be a bit of a gamble.
The community or organization may not get any money. And even if a grant is awarded, the amount may be less than what was applied for.
That's what makes a recent grant award to the Webster County Sheriff's Office and the Fort Dodge Community Foundation remarkable and perhaps even unprecedented in our area.
The Sheriff's Office and the foundation applied to the U.S. Department of Justice for a $72,000 crime prevention grant.
They received $200,000.
There doesn't appear to be any similar situation in Fort Dodge or Webster County in which a federal grant award turned out to be larger than what was sought. No one seems certain why that happened this time, but Randy Kuhlman, the chief executive officer of the foundation, has a theory that we think makes a lot of sense. He believes the grant application was viewed very favorably because a lot of the money will be used for a variety of programs to educate and engage the public. That, he believes, made the application stand out.
"Our's was really about engaging the community in the process," he said.
Much of the grant money, about $80,000 in each of the next two fiscal years, will be spent on these programs:
• Town hall meetings at which the public can talk to law enforcement leaders.
• A new substance abuse prevention effort in conjunction with local schools.
• A series of Parent Cafes at which parents can learn about things like internet safety for their children.
• A new campaign called See Something, Say Something that will encourage people to report anything that seems suspicious to police before a crime occurs.
The rest of the money, some $21,000 in each of the next two fiscal years, will pay licensing fees for a software program called GreyKey that is used by the Sheriff's Office to access locked cellphones after first obtaining a search warrant.
We thank and congratulate those who put together these programs and successfully applied for a federal grant to pay for them.
We also encourage all local residents to learn about and take part in the planned community engagement programs. Preventing crime and violence isn't just a job for the police. It is a job for all of us.