ROGERS -- Springdale police can now better reach out and help local children through their Sandlot program thanks to $15,000 grant from the Wal-Mart Foundation.
The Springdale Police Department program was one of 14 recipients of the foundation's Quality of Life grant announced Thursday.
Grant recipients
Other recipients of the Wal-Mart Foundation’s Quality of Life grant include:
• Arkansas Athletes Outreach
• Artists Laboratory Theatre
• Boys & Girls Club of Siloam Springs
• Fayetteville Public Education Foundation
• Donald W. Reynolds Boys & Girls Club
• Girls on the Run of Northwest Arkansas
• John Brown University
• Community Creative Center
• Symphony Orchestra of Northwest Arkansas
• Theatre Squared, Inc.
• Trike Theatre
• Botanical Garden of the Ozarks
• Arkansas Philharmonic Orchestra
Source: Staff report
Erin Hogue, senior manager for the foundation, and Lt. Derek Wright with the Police Department announced the grant at the at the Five & Dime Suite on the 18th hole at the Wal-Mart NW Arkansas Championship golf tournament at Pinnacle Country Club.
"The Wal-Mart Foundation's mission is to create opportunities so people can live better," Hogue said. "We have awarded over $650,000 in grants to enhance quality of life in Northwest Arkansas."
This is the first year the Police Department has received the Quality of Life grant.
The summer program began by partnering with the Springdale School District four years ago.
"When the schools offer free lunch during the summer, we would have some of our school resource officers show up and interact with the kids and just build those relationships through positive contacts," Wright said.
Five Springdale schools offer free summer lunch programs for anybody under age 18 during the summer. The schools include Jones Elementary, Parson Hills Elementary, George Elementary, Bayyari Elementary and Westwood Elementary.
"It's a great program to keep kids active during the summertime," said Rick Schaeffer, communications director for the Springdale School District.
Just a handful of resource officers participated in the program four years ago. The Sandlot how enlists the help of 17 officers and two sergeants. Seven resource officers are funded through a federal grant, Wright said.
The officers rotate to two schools each week during the summer, typically interacting with 50-100 kids, he said.
"That way we get all five schools at least two or three times during the summer," Wright said.
Officers and children play outdoor sports and watch movies indoors when it's too hot outside, Wright said.
Students who participate in the program range from grade school to junior high, he said.
The foundation grant will enable police to provide breakfast throughout the week, as well as snack packs to take home for the weekend, Wright said.
"A lot of kids who take part in this program show up hungry," he said. "They haven't had breakfast, maybe they didn't eat dinner the night before."
Grant recipients had to be an accessible arts program or a program that provided recreation for any member of the community, Hogue said.
"We felt (Sandlot) was a strong community partnership that benefited a particular area in our community that was under served," Hogue said.
NW News on 06/24/2016