Finance committee approves roughly $19,065 in small community grants to local nonprofits

The New Castle County Administrative Finance Committee on March 10 approved a series of community grants to local nonprofits, moving and passing each item by voice vote.

Sponsors described each request and the committee approved the following grants: Safe United Neighborhoods, $2,000 (sponsor: Councilman Hollins); Rob Scott Manor Civic Association, $1,025 (sponsor: Councilwoman George); Ancient Order of Hibernians, $2,500 (sponsor: Councilman Koneko); Attack Addiction, $2,639.82 (sponsor: Councilman Koneko); Corbett Callaway Memorial Library, $2,500 (sponsor: Councilman Koneko); Warriors Helping Warriors (Bridal Connolly Veterans Resiliency Center), $2,500 total split between sponsoring members; Friends of Lums Pond State Park, $2,500 (sponsor: Councilman Carter); Girl Scouts of the Chesapeake Bay, $1,000 (sponsor: Councilman Carter; approved conditional on witness signature); and an amendment to Bellevue Farms/Bellevue Community Center grant for $2,400 to cover increased kitchen and event-supply costs.

“It's a very small agency, and a very troubling, challenging part of my district,” Councilman Hollins said when sponsoring the Safe United Neighborhoods request and moved the $2,000 grant. Council members routinely made motions, seconded and approved each grant by voice vote; the transcript records the committee’s "Aye" responses but does not provide a roll-call tally by member.

Why it matters: The grants provide operating and program support to neighborhood groups, veterans services, addiction-recovery providers and cultural organizations across New Castle County, and one item (the Girl Scouts grant) was approved conditionally to ensure proper witness documentation.

Next steps: Administration staff will process the approved grants and follow any conditional requirements (for example, the Girl Scouts' witness signature). The Bellevue Farms amendment was approved to address higher-than-expected project costs.