Arkansas River Trust receives $2,500 grant
Mountain Mail 11/2/01
By Brian Taylor
The group spearheading the Arkansas River Whitewater Park in Salida recently received a $2,500 grant from a national energy supplement company.
The Arkansas River Trust received the money Oct. 29 from PowerBar Inc., the makers of PowerBar snack bars. The trust was notified it qualified for the money in September and decided to commit it to the project.
The grant was made to ART through the company's Direct Impact of Rivers and Trails program.
The funding came at a great time for us and made a big difference in the most recent phase of construction (of the whitewater park), said ART Executive Director Mike Harvey.
This grant was significant for us because it showed us this project is exciting to organizations and individuals outside our community.
Harvey said the money was used to increase the ART contribution to the park to approximately $28,000.
The City of Salida approved $46,052 for the in-stream improvements to the kayaking course Sept. 4, allowing second-phase work on the project to be completed this year instead of next.
This grant got a little bit of extra work done that the city budget didn't cover, he said.
Harvey said he learned of the program through Shawn Gillis and other employees at Absolute Bikes in Salida.
They received some brochures from PowerBar in the mail and passed them along to us, Harvey said.
This program seemed like such a natural fit for the whitewater park project and the Arkansas River Trust.