Community foundation awards $311,779 to 30 Reno County nonprofits

The Hutchinson Community Foundation awarded $311,779 to 30 Reno County nonprofits, including $35,000 each over three years to Hutchinson's Historic Fox Theatre for free student performances and to the Salt City Orchestra Association.

The largest share of the second 2026 impact cycle, $162,147, went to the foundation's Dynamic Culture category, which covers local arts, theater, history and tourism, followed by $86,562 for Thriving Kids, $58,070 for Strong Organizations and $5,000 for Community Catalyst. In the comparable second cycle a year earlier, the foundation awarded $179,319 to 16 nonprofits, and its first 2026 cycle, announced in March, awarded $196,151 to 24 organizations.

On the children and family side, according to the foundation's grant announcement, Hutchinson Regional Medical Foundation received $20,000 for furniture, fixtures and equipment at Bright Futures Academy, an early childhood center under construction that will provide 130 licensed child care slots — 100 prioritized for health care employees and 30 dedicated to children needing developmental or behavioral support.

FosterAdopt Connect's $16,000 will pay for emergency rent, utility and medical assistance for at-risk families; Birthright Hutchinson's $12,000 will buy cribs, car seats, diapers and formula; and the Salvation Army of Reno County's $7,500 will help its Holiday Assistance program reach nearly 1,000 households with Thanksgiving gift cards and Christmas food baskets.

The smallest award, $869 to ESSDACK, will send Luna June, a golden retriever, to therapy dog school at Special K9 so she can work with students at the Reno County Learning Center who are learning self-regulation skills.

The City of Sylvia received $10,000 for two coordinated downtown murals, one a vintage postage stamp design at the Sylvia Post Office and the other a painted marquee downtown, and the Reno County Historical Society received $20,000 over four years for a community-shaped exhibit on the businesses, industries and founders who built Reno County.

The Quivira Chapter, Santa Fe Trail Association, received $20,000 for a four-day symposium of educational sessions, bus tours and historical presentations, and the Sky Ryders Performing Arts Foundation received $14,000 for a mobile kitchen trailer to feed corps members and staff during training camps in Hutchinson and on tour.

Hutch Rec drew two awards, $10,000 toward a one-evening porch music festival in the Founders Neighborhood in the fall of 2027 and $4,000 to install six permanent art sign structures at DCI Park.

The Fund for Reno County Endowment was established in 1990 as a permanent resource for the county's changing needs, and the foundation says grants go to proposals that represent an innovative approach or collaboration, a new efficiency, a critical need or an opportunity that leverages other resources for the community. Cycle 2 funding was supplemented by donor advisors through the foundation's Giving Together program and by named endowed funds, among them the Carolyn A. Dillon Fund for the Arts and the Early Childhood Endowed Fund.

Proposals are accepted during impact cycles in February and August, making February 2027 the next opportunity. All 2026 Fund for Reno County grants will be recognized at UPLIFT 2026 from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 19.

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