KIF grant hits homerun for Miracle League

It wasn’t just a homerun, it was a grand-slammer for children when the Kiwanis Club of Eldorado, Altoona, Pennsylvania, was approved this past February for a Kiwanis International Foundation (KIF) grant to build a Miracle League of Blair County baseball diamond.

Miracle League provides an opportunity for mentally, physically, and developmentally disabled children to play baseball. Its fields have cushioned, latex-free, rubber surfaces, and everything is at the same elevation so wheelchairs, walkers, crutches, and other devices can be used.

“The Miracle League believes strongly in the spirit of community,” says Joseph Reed, who is president of the Miracle League and president-elect of the Eldorado Altoona club. “This project is precisely in conformance with the Kiwanis objective of serving the children of the world.”

The KIF also recently awarded grants to:

•  California-Nevada-Hawaii District’s Division 37 for its work with the Romanian Girls’ Transition Home (link to www.kidivision37.org/new_page_10.htm.)

•  Kiwanis International’s Key Leader Program

•  Kiwanis Club of Greater Southeast Portland, Oregon, for the Doernbecker Children’s Hospital.

•  Kiwanis Club of Corvallis, Oregon, for Old Mill Center’s Strong Families program.

•  Kiwanis Club of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, for the Kiwanis Down Syndrome Foundation.

•  Kiwanis Club of Logan, Utah, for a children’s literacy program.

•  Kiwanis Club of Tuckahoe, Virginia, for the Doug Jinks Children’s Center.

•  Kiwanis Club of Ramona, California, for Project Lifesaver.

The KIF awarded matching grants to:

•  Alabama Kiwanis Foundation for the Jean Dean Reading Is Fundamental Program.

•  Nebraska-Iowa Kiwanis District Foundation for pediatric trauma kits.

•  Rocky Mountain District Foundation Inc. for the Pediatric Trauma Institute’s Junglemobile.

A Disaster Relief Grant was awarded by the KIF to Kiwanis Indonesia.

For more information about these programs, click here. To apply for a KIF grant, click here.