Equinox Foundation announces $420K in grants

BONNERS FERRY — Almost 40 nonprofits in Bonner and Boundary counties were recently awarded grants totaling $420,798 through the Equinox Foundation Grant Program at Innovia Foundation.

“It is an honor to partner with Equinox Foundation to fund nonprofit organizations diligently working to improve their communities,” said Dig Chrismer, North Region rural engagement manager at Innovia Foundation. “With its generous support of education and youth development, arts and culture, economic opportunity, health and wellbeing, and quality of life, Equinox empowers North Idaho to build a brighter future.” 

The Equinox Foundation partners with Innovia Foundation to provide a grant program benefiting communities in Bonner and Boundary counties. This family foundation was founded on the values of wisdom, integrity and environmental stewardship.

The grants range from a $30,000 grant to NAMI Fart North to provide support, education and advocacy for people with mental illness and their loved ones; to a $15,000 grant for the city of East Hope to create a community gathering space at the city park; to a $7,762 grant to Boundary County Youth Crisis & Domestic Violence Hotline for advocacy, shelter and education for crime and domestic violence victims. 

Receiving grants from Boundary County:

Boundary County Bike and Pedestrian Committee dba 9B Trails, $5,000, Enchanted Forest trail system second phase expansion; Boundary County School District, $7,500, 2130 Alpha + Robotics program support;

Boundary County Youth Crisis & Domestic Violence Hotline, Inc., $7,762, community support through education and mental health; GROW! Gardeners for Regional Organic Well-being, $9,341, water system; and Trinity Lutheran Church of Bonners Ferry, $10,000, weekend supplemental food program. 

Receiving grants in Bonner County were:

4-H Clubs & Affiliated 4-H Organizations, $12,000, 4-H Friday Friends out of school program; Agels Over Sandpoint, $5,000, back to school program; Bonner Community Housing Agency Incorporated, $20,000, BCHA capacity building; Bonner Community Food Bank, $10,000; funds to feed families and individuals in the community;

Bonner Soil & Water Conservation District, $2,500, 2024 Pend Oreille Water Festival; East Hope, $15,000, construction of a pavilion, complete with tables, lighting, and wireless internet hotspot to create a community gathering space;

Ponderay, $20,000, funds toward a community ice rink; Community Cancer Services, $10,000, cancer burden relief efforts; Community Coalition For Families, $10,000, emergency housing and transportation; Festival at Sandpoint, $5,000, summer internship education program; Food For Our Children, $3,000, funds for Lake Pend Oreille School District program;

Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness, $10,000, Winter Tracks youth education program; Friends of the Shelter dba Better Together Animal Alliance, $10,000, community support programs; First Judicial District CASA Program, Inc., $12,000, operations in Bonner and Boundary counties; 

Kaniksu Land Trust, $20,000, LPOSD rewilding playgrounds effort; Kaniksu Land Trust, $5,080, 7B Gives; effort to empower nonprofit impact in the county; Music Conservatory of Sandpoint, $5,000, Music Matters! outreach classes; NAMI Far North Inc., $30,000, funds toward Sand Creek Clubhouse to help adults with serious mental illness; 

One Change Group, $5,000, mental health support; Panhandle Alliance for Education Inc., $20,000, SHS residential carpentry program; Panhandle Community Radio Inc., $2,000, KRFY back-up transmitter; Panhandle Special Needs, Inc., $10,000, program support for life skills, employment and work services; The Panida Theater Inc., $50,000, Panida Century Fund;

Pawsitive Outreach Spay/Neuter Alliance, $10,000, community spay and neuter program; Pend Oreille Arts Council, $5,000, Ovations educational outreach program; Priest Lake Library, $10,000, library expansion effort; Priest Lake Nordic Club, Inc., $4,615, summer and fall trail maintenance; Priest River Ministries, $15,000, domestic violence survivor support; 

Sandpoint Area Seniors, Inc., $15,000, program support; Sandpoint Nordic Club, Inc., $5,000, school program; Sandpoint Pride, $15,000, Sandpoint Alliance for Equality program; Sandpoint Youth Center, Inc., $7,500; after school programs for teens; Selkirk Conservation Alliance, Inc., $5,000, acquisition of outboard motor; Unique Center for Athletes of All Needs, $7,500, therapy and recreation programs; 

Information: Innovia Foundation, innovia.org