The impact the coronavirus pandemic has had on local charities was evident Tuesday night, as applicant after applicant came before the Cullman County Community Development Commission (CCCDC) board.

The CCCDC meets quarterly to approve grant requests from nonprofits and local government agencies. Entities can apply for up to $12,000 and can apply only once per year. Funding for the grants comes from payments the Tennessee Valley Authority makes in lieu of taxes and from beer taxes. The board keeps $100,000 in reserve, giving away the remainder to qualified applicants.

Jalonda Hutson with the Good Samaritan Clinic told the board that because of COVID-19, they’ve had to cancel their Cullman Cares Concert, which last year provided 11% of funding for the clinic. She was asking the board to approve a $12,000 grant to help the clinic purchase blood pressure medicine for patients.

She said they used to get the item for free, but that has changed. “Many of our patients require routine medications,” she said, adding that 80% of the patients they see are on blood pressure medicine.

Her request was denied after the board ran out of money for this round of applications.

Melissa Betts of The LINK said her organization has also been impacted by the coronavirus. “Covid has impacted our fundraising efforts,” she said. “We have totaled about $85,000 less in donations than what we normally get in donations and fundraisers.” 

She had requested a $12,000 grant to help fund their Volunteers in Public Schools (VIPS) program, which provides mentors to at-risk students in 13 elementary schools around the county. She said last year the program served nearly 500 students. The CCCDC board approved the grant.

The CCCDC also approved a $12,000 media and technology grant request for Good Hope High School. Sydney Chappel, an English teacher at the high school, said the grant would allow students to use more technology in their classes. “With COVID, we know schools are a very different place, there are a lot of collaborative learning opportunities lost,” she said. 

Other grant requests approved were:

$12,000 for new hoses for the Hanceville Fire Department

$12,000 for equipment for the Garden City Fire Department

$8,000 for a new trailer and accessories for Cullman County PALS (People Against a Littered State)

$12,000 for Hope Horses barn expansion

$12,000 for radios and automated external defibrillators for Holly Pond Fire and Rescue

$12,000 for Victims’ Services to help get its building up to fire codes, which were updated last year

$12,000 for Cullman Caring for Kids for Child Abuse Awareness Month materials

$6,000 for the Cullman Veterans Day  program Nov. 7 at Cullman Regional Airport

Chairman Champ Crocker also announced that the CCCDC meetings are now being live streamed on the CCCDC Facebook page. 

“We discovered a few weeks ago that we had a Facebook page and we didn’t know it,” he said. “It was dormant, but there. We got access and are now broadcasting live.” He said they will continue to use the CCCDC website as the main contact page, but will also post information to the Facebook page as well.