Lara Wheeler, director of resource development for the Boys & Girls Club of Seymour, accepts the SIA Foundation’s monetary support toward the development of a Tween Center. The club was one of 11 grants selected out of 393 submissions to the foundation in the fall grant cycle.
Submitted photo
For the SIA Foundation’s fall grant cycle, 393 applications were submitted.
Only 11 Indiana nonprofit organizations were selected to receive a combined $101,740.27.
The Boys & Girls Club of Seymour was among those 11.
Lara Wheeler, the club’s director of resource development, traveled to Subaru of Indiana Automotive Inc. in Lafayette on Tuesday to receive a check for $13,710, which will be used to develop a Tween Center at the club at 950 N. O’Brien St., Seymour.
“We were thoroughly humbled by the opportunity,” Wheeler said. “For our project to be chosen out of 393 proposals is really quite spectacular. There are so many needed projects around the state that we feel extra fortunate to be selected and can make the Tween Center happen for our kids.”
The SIA Foundation was established in October 1997 with a $1 million gift from Subaru of Indiana Automotive. SIA has made subsequent contributions of $4 million for total contributions of $5 million. The foundation uses the funding to award grants and matching gifts to nonprofit organizations in Indiana.
Grants are awarded twice annually to nonprofit organizations seeking up to $15,000 in capital funding for arts and culture, health and welfare or education projects. The foundation has awarded more than $2.8 million in capital grants.
The newest recipients represent Boone, Cass, Harrison, Howard, Jackson, St. Joseph and Tippecanoe counties.
Wheeler said this is the Boys & Girls Club of Seymour’s first award from the foundation.
The money will be used to transform an unused space in the clubhouse into a Tween Center. Wheeler said the club currently has 105 active members in the 10- to 12-year-old age group, and that number is growing.
“This particular age group is too young for the dedicated Teen Center but growing too old and uninterested in the programming space for junior club members,” she said. “A dedicated space for tweens will allow this impressionable age group to have an area of the clubhouse designed to meet their needs with size-appropriate seating, decor, technology and education support.”
The space will be a side room off of the Teen Center.
“We know that by focusing on the tween members now, we will have a higher success rate of retaining them when they become teenagers and are more likely to participate in risky behaviors,” Wheeler said.
Plans call for construction of the Tween Center to be completed by December 2023.
“In general, the tween age group gets overlooked in community programming. It is such a vital stage in their life while they are figuring out who they are as they enter the teen phase,” said Amanda Williams, director of impact for the Boys & Girls Club of Seymour. “The Tween Center will offer them a safe space to explore and learn as they transition from the little kid stage to older adolescence, and we are more than happy to be able to provide that for them.”
Other recipients for the SIA Foundation’s 2022 fall grant cycle are:
• East Tipp Middle School (Tippecanoe County): $8,578 for a laser cutter/engraver, an air filter and a workbench
• Emmaus Mission Center (Cass County): $13,860 for bed frames, mattresses and clothing chests
• Harrison County Community Services (Harrison County): $6,294 for freezers
• Lafayette Jefferson High School (Tippecanoe County): $10,690.62 for industrial tools and construction curriculum equipment
• Riggs Community Health Center (Tippecanoe County): $10,146.28 for a vaccine transport system
• Senior Citizens Inc. Lebanon (Boone County): $10,811.32 for energy-efficient doors and attic insulation
• Studebaker National Museum (St. Joseph County): $3,202.10 for a STEM activity station
• Wea Ridge Elementary School (Tippecanoe County): $1,240.30 for Little Libraries
• Western School Corp. (Howard County): $13,112.65 for percussion equipment
• West Lafayette Fire Department (Tippecanoe County): $10,095 for an inflatable fire education house
For information, visit siafoundation.org.