Editor’s note: This article is sponsored to you by Little Buckeye Children’s Museum.
Little Buckeye Children’s Museum is asking for the community’s vote in order to receive a $25,000 grant from State Farm Neighborhood Assist® that will help better serve the children of Richland County.
“This is a rare opportunity where you can feel successful and feel like you have improved your community,” said Fred Boll, executive director of Little Buckeye.
If chosen for the grant, the money will go toward Little Buckeye’s Buckeye Bag Program, first introduced in 2020. After winning the Spirit of Community award from the Ohio Travel Association, Little Buckeye distributed over 200 Buckeye bags to children during the peak of COVID-19. Now, Boll wants to expand his reach to as many children in Richland County as possible.
“The first set of Buckeye bags were very successful, and we’re hoping to reproduce that success again,” Boll said.
Winning the grant would allow Little Buckeye to upgrade the bags with more supplies and provide for more than 2,500 in-need children. The bags include a variety of activities and an instruction book on the imaginative things you can do with supplies such as jump rope or a frisbee.
The bags would be distributed to second and eighth-graders to ensure that they are fully inclusive. It will also give the museum favorable odds to making sure every family in the county will get one, Boll said.
Boll plans to seek help from corporate sponsors if he receives the grant to expand his reach in Richland County.
“The more corporate sponsors we get, the more we can expand it,” Boll said. “We can impact five grades worth of students if we get enough corporate sponsorship to assist with the grant.”
Starting Aug. 18 at midnight and lasting until Aug. 28, voting online will take place. U.S. residents who are 18 and older with a valid email address can vote every day up to 10 times a day for Little Buckeye by visiting littlebuckeye.org and clicking the “Vote Here” button on the landing page. Voters can also go directly to Little Buckeye’s State Farm page and vote.
Boll implores his community to take advantage of this opportunity to continue making improvements to the community for the next generation.
“Everybody always wants to make a difference and can feel frustrated when they’re not able to make a difference,” Boll said. “This is an opportunity where everybody can have a direct impact on our community and make a positive change — through the simple act of going online and voting for Little Buckeye Children’s Museum.”
Visit littlebuckeye.org and click “vote here.”
