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Operation Our Town awarded grants to 13 local prevention programs aimed at reducing illegal drug use and crime in Blair County.
The partnership led by local businesses is giving more than $47,000 to the recipients during the 2018 grant cycle.
Representatives of the grant recipients spoke at a press conference Tuesday at Park Hills Golf Club in Altoona.
"We reach out to community kids, giving them a place to be instead of the streets," said Shanda Keith of the ROCK (Reaching Out to Community Kids), a weekly program at the Second Avenue United Methodist church.
The program serves 75 children who don't have home-cooked meals or anywhere to be after school except maybe an empty home, she said.
"We have preschoolers who walk here with second-grade brothers or sisters," she said.
The program serves children in preschool through high school who live in the Second Avenue area. It provides food, recreation opportunities and presentations.
Like Keith's program, the grant recipients gathered Tuesday focus on keeping children in healthy activities. Our Town board member Randy Feathers compared the grant recipients' work to fighting a war.
"You are our boots-on-the-ground soldiers. … I know it sounds dramatic, but we are battling the gangs, the heroin problem. … If there is one kid who you help and they go influence a friend … you can't put a number on how many people all of you are touching," he said.
In addition to funding drug and crime prevention programs, Operation Our Town also awards an annual grant for targeted law enforcement and prosecution to fight illegal drugs and crime in Blair County. A total of $2.8 million has been awarded in grants over the past 11 years.
Grant recipients awarded Tuesday for drug prevention programs were chosen by specific criteria on a scoring process by the six-member Operation Our Town grant committee.
The Altoona Area School District ELECT Program will use the grant to fund nutritious meals and snacks for pregnant and parenting teens and their children.
The Altoona Area School District Foundation received a grant to help give financial assistance for children to pursue post-secondary education.
The Big Brothers Big Sisters of Blair County will use its grant for its mentoring program.
Blair County Juvenile Drug Court Program plans to purchase incentives providing activities to build children's sense of self-worth.
The Central Blair Recreation & Park Commission plans to use its grant to provide supplies for special events throughout the year.
Child Advocates of Blair County plans to purchase supplies for a summer program for teen girls who live in low-income housing complexes.
Evolution Expressions is in its first year of operation at 1331 12th Ave. The grant will fund art supplies for trauma-focused physical and artistic activities for children.
The Gloria Gates Memorial Foundation received a grant for its after-school and summer programs for children in low-income housing.
Hollidaysburg Area School District's student voluntary drug testing program will use the grant to cover costs of drug testing in the junior and senior high schools.
The Hollidaysburg YMCA will use the grant to offer families Saturday-night entertainment including dances, games and arts and crafts.
The Door Student Services' Palmer Technology Center will use the grant to replace outdated computers that serve at-risk teens with year-round after-school programs.
And the United Way's Family Resource Center will use its grant to purchase supplies for family home visits.
Hollidaysburg Area Superintendent Bob Gildea represented his school district at the Operation Our Town event. He thanked all of the grant recipients for their work.
"There's the saying that it takes a community to raise a child. I would add that it takes a safe and supportive community to raise a responsible and productive member of society, and schools can't do that alone," he said.
Mirror Staff Writer Russ O'Reilly is at 946-7435.