TYPES OF GRANTS

JFK offers four types of grants. Click on the grant name below to see further details.

SPRING/FALL GRANTS FOR ORGANIZATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS

Spring/Fall Grants are designed to help youth oriented organizations and individuals with planned operating expenses, project launches, capital needs, financial aid, and many other seasonal cash needs. Fall awards are applied for in October and Spring awards are applied for in March. You may apply for both grant cycles. The process from application to award spans approximately six weeks. JFK grants will not cover projects or expenses that have already occurred.

JFK is pleased to announce that we awarded over $135,000 to 50 different organizations and three students during 2009. Additionally, through our Man of La Mancha (MLM) college scholarship fund, we awarded four students $5000 scholarships totaling $20,000 in college scholarship money. The winning students represented all areas of our watershed, one from Telluride, one from Norwood and two from Nucla. We are also very proud to have helped two of those students be the first in their families to attend college.

The JFK board also likes to give surprise Mentorship Awards to those members of our community who show inexhaustible energy, passion and dedication to their work with youth. Telluride High School English teacher, David Lavender and Telluride High School college counselor, Karen Lavender, were honored as mentors in 2009.

MINI-GRANT

JFK accepts impromptu applications throughout the year for grants up to $250 for individuals or organizations facing emergency cash needs. Your request should be submitted to Just for Kids by contacting Secretary/Treasurer Cheryl Carstens Miller at JFK at 728-0680. The board has delegated authority to Ms. Miller to make awards on the spot. You will be required to submit substantiating materials as requested.

MAN OF LA MANCHA

Bill Carstens created the Man of La Mancha Award (MLM) in 2006 to support a quality in young adults he admired: dedication to a dream. Each year JFK awards $10,000 to graduating seniors to pay direct educational expenses to the technical, college, university or professional school of that student’s choosing. Candidates are eligible to apply up to the time they enter that school but they may only apply once. Students should demonstrate exemplary academic achievement and/or outstanding social responsibility. The application requires a two-page essay about dedication to a dream. Financial need may be considered as well as first generation college status, although JFK is principally seeking to award the most promising students. 

MENTORSHIP AWARDS

Exceptional Role Models, Teachers, and Mentors are honored by JFK with selective monetary awards up to $5,000. If you believe an individual is making a profound difference in the lives of children and our community and should be rewarded, please contact us.

2009 HONOREES

Karen and David Lavender

Through their endless dedication, Karen and David Lavender have effectively inspired and motivated their students at the Telluride High School. The two came to Telluride after teaching at several prestigious private schools and the university level. Karen works as the high school’s college counselor and David is an English teacher. Through their collaborative college  preparation program, the two have made a huge mark on the school and the students. In addition to teaching English classes, David created a junior and senior seminar to help students with what he calls “life skills, college preparation, letter writing, the college  application process and college research methodology”. Many students have mentioned David’s elective, creative writing class as one of their favorite. Karen counsels students individually in selecting schools that are a good match, and writes personal counselor recommendations for each student. A visit to Karen’s office shows her dedication, her walls are plastered with pictures of the two of them in front of hundreds of different colleges. The Lavenders have seen students go to the nation’s top colleges, but David notes that it’s just as exciting is to see a kid who never thought he would go to college get a full ride to the regional, college a few hours away as it is to see a student go to Yale or Stanford.

Sally Davis Sally Davis enlightens the community and countless children of all ages with her innovative drama programs at Telluride Academy. She has traveled the world with children for over 15 years and is a pioneer in global community work with children. She taps into the innate, collaborative and socially responsible skills of children, teaching them to reach for the stars and change the world.

Brett Huet Brett Huet teaches job skills and socialization for adolescent boys at risk. His recent innovative Trailblazers program earned accolades for its ability to turnaround juvenile offenders. He successfully integrates forestry education, team building, work ethic and discipline, safety practices, and responsible development of the land while providing career counseling and financial compensation for troubled teens.