Nominations Now Being Accepted for Kansas Health Champion Awards

Exceptional efforts to promote health and fitness in Kansas to be recognized

TOPEKA – The Governor’s Council on Fitness is now accepting nominations for its annual Kansas Health Champion Awards. Awards are given to individuals and organizations that make an exceptional effort to model, encourage and promote health and fitness in Kansas. The deadline for nominations is September 30. Award recipients will be recognized at the Community Health Promotion Summit on January 30 in Wichita.

“The Kansas Department of Health and Environment is excited to partner in this important initiative to recognize those who make healthy living in our state a priority,” said KDHE Secretary Lee Norman, MD. It’s important that we recognize their efforts and the difference they are making in their communities.”

Nominees shall have demonstrated:

• Work that goes above and beyond what is expected to model, encourage and promote fitness
• Work that helps overcome health inequities
• Sustainable influence or activity
• Far-reaching health impact

“In addition to promoting effective models for increasing physical activity, nutrition and tobacco-free living for replication by organizations and communities around the state, the awards also allow us the opportunity to honor the outstanding work of one individual and one organization this year,” said Marlou Wegener, Chair of the Governor’s Council on Fitness and Manager of Community Relations, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas.  Eligible nominees might include an outstanding volunteer, a school, a local community, a newspaper or individual reporter, a local or State policy maker, or an employer, among others.

For more information and to submit a nomination, go to getactivekansas.org and click on the nomination form link. If you have questions about the nomination process, contact Connie Satzler at 785-587-0151.

The Governor’s Council on Fitness advises the Governor and others on ways to enhance the health of all Kansans through promotion of physical activity, good dietary choices and prevention of tobacco use.

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Secretary David Toland Awards Community Service Tax Credits to Kansas Non-profits

Topeka, Kan. – Secretary of Commerce David Toland announced today the award of Community Service Tax Credits (CSP) to 17 non-profit organizations to support education, healthcare and housing projects across the state.

CSP is a tool that dramatically enhances fundraising efforts, providing a 70% tax credit to qualified donors in rural communities of less than 15,000 population and 50% in larger communities. For example, a donor making a $100 gift in a rural community receives a $70 tax credit when they file their state taxes, making the net cost to the donor only $30.

“These nonprofit organizations provide so much to their communities,” Governor Laura Kelly said. “We must do everything we can to support them. Community Service Tax Credits will help build stronger communities and a stronger state.”

“Community Service Tax Credits are a powerful tool to fuel the success of important projects that support the quality of life in communities large and small,” Secretary Toland said. “I’m proud that these projects are both a reflection of Governor Kelly’s priorities and of the priorities of the communities. I wish we had the funds to assist everyone who applied. Many more applicants presented important and worthy projects that we were unable to fund this year.”

Awarded companies were chosen through a competitive, score-based selection process.

For this fiscal year, the Department of Commerce is fully disbursing all CSP funds. Due to the amount of funds allocated, 17 of the 39 requested projects (constituting 21.2% of the total funds requested) are being awarded.

The awarded companies and the indicated need for funds are as follows:

• Camp Wood Young Men’s Christian Association (Elmdale) – Increasing capacity and safety through the Next Century Campaign, which aims to address both needs and be the final piece of renovations that will have improved every area of the 104-year-old statewide facility.
• Carpenter Place, Inc. (Wichita) – Building a new cottage to provide a safe and secure home, provide individualized bedrooms for each resident and increase the capacity of residents. Because this organization serves girls through the age of 18, a potential liability is created when residents must share a bedroom. The new cottage with individualized bedrooms will eliminate this important safety concern.
• Center City Academy, Inc. (Wichita) – Purchasing land and building/equipping a building to provide a high-quality early learning experience for children whose parents live and/or work in the downtown area. At least 50% of the children will come from low-income families who cannot afford childcare and preschool education that prepares their children to enter the Wichita public school system.
• Florence Crittenton Services of Topeka, Inc. (Topeka) – Increasing Psychiatric Residential Treatment Program (PRTF) capacity by repurposing a residential unit for PRTF beds, finishing an unfinished basement area for more space to accommodate the increase in programming, replacing carpeting/flooring in high traffic areas of the building, and adding additional parking to accommodate increased staff and visitor traffic.
• Interfaith Housing & Community Services, Inc. (Hutchinson) – Creating transitional housing in the form of 600 square-foot EcoHomes. The homes will be located in a designated neighborhood re-investment area and on empty lots where public infrastructure is already in place. A potential site has been properly identified through a land bank in Hutchinson and other lots will be considered in rural communities within a 100-mile radius of Hutchinson.
• Labette Health (Oswego) – Construction of a Rural Health Clinic and Express Care in Oswego, KS. Located in Southeast Kansas, Oswego is a historically medically underserved community, according to HRSA. On February 14, 2019, Oswego Community Hospital abruptly closed, which left citizens of Oswego without access to primary or express care.
• The Minneola Den, Inc. (Minneola) – Renovation of the facility in which The Den operates, to expand the program area to the north space to create a covered/concrete outdoor activity area, and to provide interior furnishing and upgrades to create an accessible restroom and to establish and expand program areas on the main and basement floors. The renovation will include engineering and design, demolition and site preparation, excavation and waterproofing of basement walls, and sheeting of existing walls of The Den on the north and west.
• Morris County Hospital Foundation (Council Grove) – Restoration and re-opening of the White City and Alta Vista Clinics, which have been closed for several years.
• Moundridge Manor Inc. (Moundridge) – Replacing the HVAC system in two wings to significantly increase the comfort of the frail and disabled seniors by enabling each resident room to have individualized climate control. Residents do not currently have control over the temperature in their room as each side of each wing is controlled by a single thermostat, which results in varying temperatures that are not always to everyone’s comfort.
• Pleasant View Home Inc. (Inman) – Replacing the main generator (in place since 1959) and two fire panels (more than 20 years old) in order to ensure the safety of the more than 200 residents living on campus.
• See to Learn Foundation (Topeka) – Ensure funding is provided to help provide Kansas children access to appropriate eye care. Vision problems affect one in five children in Kansas schools each year. Left unchecked, they can limit a child’s ability to succeed in school and can lead to self-esteem issues and behavior problems. These vision issues can affect any child, regardless of income or ability to pay.
• SOS, Inc. (Lyndon) – Renovation of a newly acquired facility for Advocacy, Education and Outreach Services for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. Last year SOS, Inc., provided 18,134 services including crisis intervention, court support, safety plans, support groups, therapy services, 24-hour hotline, trauma services and more. This renovation project will bring all Advocacy and Outreach Services under one roof and help streamline operations in order to deliver services to more people in need.
• Spearville Senior Living, Inc. (Spearville) – Construction and operations of a 12-bed skilled nursing unit and a 12-apartment assisted living complex using the “Greenhouse” model of resident-centered care. In addition to caring for 24 elderly residents, the new facility intends to offer more than 20 new jobs to residents of the Spearville area.
• Starkey, Inc. (Wichita) – Creation of a new 20,000-square foot facility for the Life Enrichment program to support the daily needs of 250 people with goal-setting and skill-building activities. A new purpose-built facility would provide essential supports for the basic needs of the persons served, as well as provide new opportunities for living a full life. Program spaces would include small-group activity rooms where people could focus on specialized activities and tasks, but still have a multipurpose common space for activities and dining.
• William Newton Memorial Hospital (Winfield) – Purchasing equipment necessary for a Cath Lab in the new expanded Surgical Center. This equipment will allow the Cath Lab to provide critical services for the area, as this organization would be the only one to offer that service.
• Transition Plus Association (Summerfield) – Creation of growing towers that provide state-of-the-art indoor ability to grow vegetables three times faster than usual, allowing for more profit and sustainability of the business. They will be housed in the former school gym, where transitioning military can train in the methods of care, harvest and distribution. They can then take that knowledge with them and become vegetable farmers without needing to own expensive land or costly farm machinery, thereby eliminating two of the greatest barriers to new farmers.

About the Community Service Tax Credit Program (CSP)

Each year since 1994, the Kansas Community Service Program has given nonprofit organizations a way to improve their ability to undertake major capital fundraising drives for various projects. Tax credits are allocated each year and awarded on a competitive application basis to nonprofit organizations.

Projects eligible for tax credit awards include community service, crime prevention, health care, and youth apprenticeship and technical training. Based on the scope and cost of the proposed project, applicants may request up to $250,000 in tax credits. Applicant organizations in rural areas (less than 15,000 population) are eligible for a 70% credit. Applicant organizations in non-rural areas are eligible for a 50% credit.

Scores are tallied based on the following criteria, among others:

• Need of the project
• Solution compatibility (will this solution solve the need)
• Target community
• Project planning
• Community support

Ryan Brinker

Public Information Officer

[email protected]

Kansas Department of Commerce

1000 SW Jackson St. Ste. 100

Topeka, KS 66612-1354

Phone: 785-296-4931

Cell: 785-276-9723