Bessie Minor Swift Foundation awards grant to Brewery Arts Center in Carson City

The Bessie Minor Swift Foundation, formed by the owners and founder of Swift Communications, has awarded the Brewery Arts Center in Carson City a $3,000 grant to help expand its Arts in the Park program.

The Arts in the Park program parks a motorhome between a neighborhood school and a park several days a week throughout the summer. Each week a different instructor working out of the motorhome provides a free art lesson to youth of all ages and then helps expand language skills by talking about the art and its impact. Funds will pay for teacher time and supplies. The program hopes to expand to two locations this summer.

The Bessie Minor Swift Foundation awards grants to programs that promote literacy, reading and writing skills as well as programs that focus on the arts, languages and sciences. Since 2008, more than $375,000 has been awarded to 145 organizations in the communities where Swift Communications conducts business. Swift Communications is the parent company of the Nevada Appeal.

For 2016, 36 recipients were awarded $74,763 across locations where Swift Communication owns properties. More than 160 applications were received. The Foundation grant criteria calls for detail on how many people will be impacted by the organization’s project and how significant a role the Bessie Minor Swift Foundation will play in the program. Further, applicants must provide a complete description of the project including objectives and strategies to meet those objectives, explain how the project will be evaluated and submit a budget. Recipients will report on their results and insights from their program once the projects are completed.

The Bessie Minor Swift Foundation thanks the many groups that took the time and energy to apply and encourages those that were not selected to submit applications in the future. Applications will be accepted again starting Jan. 1, 2017, with a deadline of Feb. 15, 2017. For more information, visit the Bessie Minor website at www.bessieminorswift.org.