The fifth annual Grow Greene County Gaming Corporation grant award ceremony happened Tuesday night, despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, the event happened via Zoom application and Facebook Live, where GGCGC Board members and the public could attend, while practicing social distancing. GGCGC gave away about $1.4 million, with $362,000 going to four competitive grants. These were projects that were submitted to the Board for consideration, after the allocations to the contiguous counties, the county’s municipalities and school districts, and previous commitments to other projects.
The Greene County Early Learning Center and Greene County Development Corporation received most of the grant funds of $125,000 each. GGCGC has also committed a four-year pledge to the Early Learning Center of $125,000 each year. The Early Learning Center will use the funds towards their new building project to ensure expanded child care in the county. GCDC will use the funds for special projects in the upcoming year. The other competitive grant winners were the Scranton Fire Department of $72,000 for a high pressure first responder truck and Greene County Public Health for a medical transport vehicle. Fire Chief Doug Duff remarked on how the truck will be used.
“That’ll be used to replace our first responder truck. If you ask any fire department (first responder truck) is used for everything anymore. It’ll be used at structure fires, and it’ll carry our Jaws of Life, so it’ll be used at accidents and any fire. It (is) an outstanding grant to be able to receive.”
Grow Greene County receives five-percent of the adjusted gross revenue from Wild Rose Casino and Resort in Jefferson to allocate towards grants and projects. Since 2015, GGCGC has given away over $6.5 million. Click the link below for a full list of grant recipients.