Members of the Women’s Leadership Guild awarded four nonprofits a $5,000 grant each to support the health and wellness of women and children on the Palouse.

In its six years of awarding grants, the Guild has raised and given more than $175,000, said Stephanie Pierce, liaison for the Guild and Pullman Regional Hospital,

Families Together for People with Disabilities, Jefferson Elementary School PTA’s outdoor learning lab and garden, Northwest Cancer Foundation of Hope and Pullman Community Council on Aging were awarded a grant.

This is Jefferson Elementary School PTA’s second time receiving an award from the Guild. Officials plan to use $2,500 to expand the school’s outdoor learning lab and garden, said Meg Gollnick, outdoor learning lab and garden chair and grant writer. 

The other $2,500 will fund an outdoor learning lab and garden at Kamiak Elementary School, she said.

With the money given this year, Jefferson Elementary School is focusing on its pollinator garden to teach students bee biology. A second garden provides vegetables and herbs for school lunches.   

The Pullman Community Council on Aging received an award two years ago from the Guild. Executive Director Nancy Backes said this year’s grant will go toward Meals on Wheels, which delivers meals seven days a week to homebound seniors. 

Backes said the money will help them cover extra costs they have incurred due to the coronavirus, like hand sanitizer. Because of the pandemic, they now deliver meals to seniors who are not homebound.

The organization is entirely dependent on grants and donations, Backes said.

“We are very grateful because we were not able to hold our annual fundraiser this year,” Backes said. “It was a very needed boost for us.”

Pierce said her favorite part of awarding grants is hearing how the nonprofits make a difference in the community.

“Hearing those success stories that come after these organizations receive these grants is life-changing,” she said.

Pierce said Families Together for People with Disabilities was given a different award last year. They used that money to reinstate a summer program that helps parents of children with disabilities.

The Guild is sponsored by PRH and uses the power of collective philanthropy to help the community, she said. Half of the members’ dues go toward funding grants, while the other half goes to the hospital’s highest needs.

Members of the Guild voted on which organizations to award the money to, Guild Chair Angie Feuerstein said.

The nonprofits celebrated receiving the awards in a Zoom event Wednesday evening, Feuerstein said.