Staff writer
Hillsboro Community Foundation recently announced that several Hillsboro organizations were awarded a total of $12,600 from the Marga Ebel Children’s Health fund.
USD 410 received two $2,000 grants. One went to the Marga Ebel Children’s Dental Care Program and the other went to Hillsboro Middle School Site Council.
School nurse Alissa Unruh said money would help serve underprivileged children and students who need dental care.
“Dental care can be very expensive,” Unruh said. “People can apply for help through the program.”
USD 410 superintendent Steve Noble said the $2,000 in grant money for the girls’ locker room project would be added to $12,762 that the middle school site council raised.
“The middle school locker room project has been a faculty priority for the site council for about 10 years,” Noble said. “It’s a $14,762 project.”
He said new locker systems would have more storage capacity that will also reduce the probability of personal items becoming lost or stolen.
Hillsboro Recreation was awarded $8,000. Of that, $2,000 will go toward adjustable basketball goals in the middles school gym and $6,000 will go toward new playground equipment in Memorial Park.
“We’re putting up four side goals in the middle school gym that we use for JAM basketball,” Hillsboro Recreation director Doug Sisk said. “The middle school is going to match $2,000 for the project.”
A local company was fabricating the goals, he said.
A 15-foot triangular “mega tower” also will be erected where a horse-themed swing set used to stand in Memorial Park, he said.
“It’s going to be just for climbing, no slides,” Sisk said. “I think the city is also putting something like $9,000 toward that project on top of what we got from the grant.”
Cathy Fish, director of Hillsboro Public Library, said the library planned to use the $600 they were awarded to make improvements on the youth reading area.
“There is some old crumbly cork on the bulletin boards that needs to be replaced,” Fish said. “We also plan to paint it with more vivid colors, probably primary colors, but nothing too childish. We want to brighten the place up and make it more inviting.”