The Wellmark Foundation today (Tuesday) has announced 12 Iowa organizations were awarded Matching Assets to Community Health (MATCH) grants. Applicants were able to request up to $100,000 in grant funding. To ensure community support for the grant project, recipients were challenged to match the award amount dollar-for-dollar. Each of the grant recipients submitted projects that can help individuals, families and communities achieve better health through built environment initiatives that encourage physical activity and/or access to and consumption of nutritious foods.

Among the award recipients, was

• The Pottawattamie County Conservation Board, which received $100,000, for Pottawattamie County Trails. The Pottawattamie County Conservation Board and Pottawattamie County Trail Association are moving into phase two of the Railroad Highway Trail. The new trail additions will extend 4.23 miles from Weston to Underwood, Iowa. Once completed, the 15-mile trail will be the first rural trail built as part of the Frontier Iowa Trail system and will connect multiple Iowa communities.
• The Shelby County Trails Board also received $100,000, for “Ballpark to Ballpark.” The Shelby County Trails Board is developing a 10-foot-wide, multi-use, paved trail between Panama and Portsmouth, Iowa. The 6.5-mile trail will separate recreational bike and pedestrian traffic from State Highway 191 and crosses four waterways. Local artists will create artwork on the trail bridges that display aspects of a healthy lifestyle.

Wellmark Foundation  Executive Director Becky Wampler said “The Wellmark Foundation is proud to award a cumulative total of $996,289.50 to these 12 grant recipients. We are proud to support these organizations as they focus on sustainable initiatives that will improve the well-being of citizens and their communities well into the future.”