grants

For two weeks every year, Lake Tahoe area commuters, students and recreational riders get on their bikes instead of in the cars to get to where they need to go. This year's event started on June 1 and goes until June 14 so there are just a few days to make your bike rides count.

In addition to all the other reasons to participate (including that it is fun & free), the data collected goes to help show the need for bicycle paths and other infrastructure when we apply for grants and other funding.

Tahoe Women’s Community Fund (TWCF) has announced their inaugural Grants Gala on Friday, June 3, 2016 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Tahoe Beach Retreat in South Lake Tahoe.

ALL community members are invited and encouraged to attend to learn more about what the 170 members of TWCF are contributing to the community. Tickets are $35 and may be purchased
HERE.

Tickets will be available on line until May 27 and cannot be purchased at the door.

The third annual Mental Health Forum in South Lake Tahoe today brought together almost 60 people who are dedicated to helping the mental and behavioral health in the community.

Hosted by Barton Health, this year's forum participants shared the progress they've made on strategies for mental health and local service gaps that were generated during the 2015 event.

Jeanne Nelson from the South Lake Tahoe chapter of NAMI (National Alliance for Mental Illness) was very pleased with the outcome Thursday.

Even though construction won't start until 2019, a major step forward to the completion of the South Tahoe Greenway Shared-Use Trail Project occurred Thursday when the California Tahoe Conservancy approved the updated project and authorized an additional $200,000 in funding.

The State of California is offering financial assistance through grants for well managed off-highway vehicle recreation areas, and the U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit is applying for one. LTBMU would like to hear what local OHV needs are in the basin, so they are accepting public comment from March 8 to April 4, 2016. .

Funds for the grants come from the State of California Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation (OHMVR) Division.

Off-Highway Vehicles (OHV) are the focus of an upcoming open house hosted by the U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit (LTBMU) on February 25, 2016 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. They will be providing information and asking for public input on developing three preliminary applications for the OHV Cooperative Funds grants that will be submitted to the State of California Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Division (OHMVR).

The Tahoe Women's Community Fund, a group of South Lake Tahoe women who have gathered together to give away money, has announced their inaugural grant cycle. Until February 29, organizations serving the community in four different areas can apply for a portion of the $22,000 to be given away.

Applications for their Focus Grant and Impact Grants can be found on their website, or by clicking here.

Community groups can now apply for grants from the Soroptimist International of Tahoe Sierra club.

They are accepting applications that support programs and projects that align with their Mission to “Strengthen the lives of women and youth in our community and the world."

The deadline to submit an application is January 31, 2016.

The application packet is available on our website www.sitahoesierra.org.
Co

For many years, the Rotary Club of South Lake Tahoe has given away a car during their annual Great Car Raffle, but that tradition has come to an end.

Club President Dave Jinkens announced Wednesday that the raffle doesn't raise the money needed to give away almost $50,000 annually to the community through scholarships, donations and grants.

There are two reasons Jinkens said the club had to abandon the raffle. After buying a car and covering the cost of the raffle, proceeds weren't what they once were and they've had to start dipping into reserves to meet donation requests.

Three local community groups were recently awarded grants form the South Lake Tahoe Rotary Club. The Drug Store Project was given $1,000, H.E.R.O Scholarship Fund $2,000 and the Sierra House Elementary 5th Grade Nature Bridge $1,500.

The Drug Store Project, which is operated under the guidance of Tahoe Youth and Family Services will use the money to continue its annual youth drug awareness and avoidance program in 2016. This is program is designed to reduce future drug experimentation/use/abuse and increase student knowledge about the dangers of drug and alcohol use.

There are five small pieces of property standing in the way of completing the Ski Run Blvd to El Dorado Beach Class 1 multi-use trail, and it was determined in a City Council vote that South Lake Tahoe can resort to using eminent domain if necessary in order to complete it.

The walking and biking path is ten feet wide, and as it crosses the land in front of the old Don Cheapo's Ski Rentals, Beach Retreat at Tahoe, Heidi's Restaurant and Tahoe Beach & Ski Club, the City needs easement in order to make the path the required width, make it safe, and have it landscaped.

This year more than 500 students in grades K-12 throughout South Lake Tahoe received a brand new, warm winter coat of their very own though the efforts of the Kiwanis Community Organization, Inc. The project ensures that every child in our community who needs one receives a coat at no charge. The Kiwanis Community Organization, Inc., a 501 c3 non-profit, was established as a collaboration in our community for numerous service organizations to work together on projects such as Coats For Kids, that align with their common missions of supporting the youth and families of our community.

A baby’s brain is like a flower, if it’s stressed, it wilts; If the flower is nourished, it blooms.

Those are the telling words used to open the film, Effects of Domestic Violence on Children. As our brains grow, they create a blueprint for every new experience we have, the sounds, the touches and the sights. We may not remember what happens to us as a baby but our experiences are forever etched in our brains and create the building blocks of our lives.

In a community with many needs, the Barton Foundation today donated $35,500 to ten different agencies that provide services to the residents of South Lake Tahoe during their annual Philanthropy Day. For the seventh year, the Barton Foundation gave away money raised through their annual fundraising efforts which include the annual Festival of Lights.

The California Transportation Commission announced this week that it will award nearly $9 million in Active Transportation Program (ATP) grant funding to help complete three major bike and pedestrian projects in the City of South Lake Tahoe and Tahoe City.

Members of the Lake Tahoe Bikeway Partnership applied for the grants. The partnership formed several years ago to secure funding for critical trail segments to improve bicyclist and pedestrian safety and complete the Lake Tahoe Bikeway, a comprehensive multi-use trail network for the Lake Tahoe Region.

Seven of the eight candidates for the four open seats of the Tahoe Paradise Resort Improvement District (TPRID) Board of Directors were at Thursday's meeting and candidate's forum. The election will be held on November 3.

Vying for the two seats with a two-year term are Jan Roman-Gonzales, incumbent Joseph Cardinale, incumbent Peter Nelligan and Frank Jones.

Candidates for the two seats with a four-year term are incumbent Victor Babbitt, incumbent Judy Klot, Diane Verwoest and Brandi Jordan-Griffith.

Jordan-Griffith did not attend the forum due to a case of the flu.

An online biking guide for cyclists of all abilities in the South Lake Tahoe, North Lake Tahoe, Truckee, Carson Valley and California Alps just been released. Bike Tahoe: Tahoe’s Ultimate Bicycling Guide, features 65 of the most popular bicycle rides in and around the Lake Tahoe Basin, and can be visited at www.BikeTahoe.org. This is a “responsive web site” meaning that it automatically resizes the content format to fit the screen size of the device being used (smart phone, tablet, laptop).

Wildfire and invasive species weren't the only topics of this year's Tahoe Summit. With the theme "Connecting Lake Tahoe’s Environment and Economy Through Innovation and Transportation,” speakers at Monday's event also talked of the importance of improved roadways and access for alternative modes of transportation that will support the anticipated increase in numbers of visitors to Lake Tahoe.

Paddle all day long on September 12 in memory of a loved one who died of cancer, someone who survived cancer, or just to support the South Lake Tahoe Cancer League.

Stand Up for Cancer will raise funds for the league which is an all volunteer, non-profit organization that offers grants and transportation to local cancer patients. The event is supported by SUP Paddle South Lake Tahoe

It's been almost a year since the 5,400 square foot Alta Mira Building was torn down in South Lake Tahoe in order to provide open space, improve water quality and remove blight.

Each year the Tahoe Douglas Rotary Club holds their signature fundraiser, the St. Patrick's Day Celebration, and because of this they are able to give away tens of thousands of dollars in scholarships, grants and gifts to members of the community.

On Friday, local non-profits were handed the fruits of the Rotarian's labor at their annual community donation day.

This year, the following groups received a donation either at the meeting or during the school year:
Zephyr Cove Elementary School
Boy Scouts Troop 468
Boy Scouts Troop 594
WHittell High Boosters

Douglas County was awarded $106,000 for the construction of a trailhead on Buckeye Road to serve the proposed Martin Slough Bike Path. The Douglas County project was one of twelve selected out of twenty two applicants to receive grants from the Nevada State Parks Recreational Trail Program. When complete, the Martin Slough Bike Path will connect Jakes Wetland in Minden to the Gilman Ponds in Gardnerville. The path will be 2.61 miles long and consist of a 10-foot wide paved section. Funding for the path is from the Nevada Department of Transportation’s Local Technical Assistance Program.

Nine golfers started their day at 6 a.m. Thursday, prepared to be on the Tahoe Paradise Golf Course until 9 p.m. raising money for the South Lake Tahoe Cancer League.

In their tenth year, the concept of the Day of Golf was started over a couple of cocktails at the South Lake Tahoe Moose Lodge. Russ Wilson and Curt Emrie formulated the idea and went to the cancer league to see if they'd like to get the donations earned during the day.

Last year, the golfers got 130 holes of golf in before dark, raising $12,000.

A self-described "forever learner," Beth Delacour won't be saying goodbye to schools once she retires as the South Tahoe Middle School Principal next month. "I like to learn," she said.

After 32 years working in the Lake Tahoe Unified School District, Delacour is looking forward to having breakfast with her girlfriends, cooking dinner for her husband ("He's been so supportive"), and enjoying her grandchildren (the fourth one is just one week old). But don't look for her to be just relaxing for long.