County’s Successful Learn, Play, Create Grant Program Accepting 2022 Applications

Poughkeepsie … Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro announced today the County is now accepting applications for the first round of the 2022 Learn, Play, Create: Supporting Our Kids grant program, which offers one-time grants awards to local non-profit organizations that serve children and families and were deprived of a year of fundraising or participation due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2022, $1 million in Learn, Play, Create (LPC) grants are available, and there will be two rounds of awards this year, each totaling $500,000. In this first round, grants of up to $20,000 each will be available to non-profit youth organizations that directly serve children and families and promote learning, arts enrichment and sports engagement. Application instructions and guidance are available on the County’s website, and applications can be submitted through an online portal.

County Executive Molinaro said, “Dutchess County is proud of the great success with our initial Learn, Play, Create grants in 2021, funding more than 140 projects throughout our community to give children back some of what this pandemic has taken from them – socialization with each other and mentors, skill development, and opportunities to just enjoy being a kid. The popularity of this program proved there are more organizations that make a real difference in the lives of our children, and Dutchess County is honored to fund projects that make a true impact on our next generation.”

Examples of possible funding awards include:

• A youth sports league’s purchase of new uniforms for its teams, enabling the league to lower its registration fee and making it more affordable for families whose income was negatively impacted by the pandemic or offer a skills clinic for player development at no cost to participants;
• Scenery and sets for a youth theater organization unable to fundraise for their cost during the past year; and
• Establishing a concession operation to enhance event experience, as well as create future fundraising revenue for program sustainability.

Applications for this first round will be accepted through March 3rd at 4 p.m., and awards will be announced in spring 2022; funding should be utilized within one year of award. Neither organizations which received LPC funding in 2021, nor school districts, private and religious schools – including school-funded clubs and/or programs – and municipal-funded/sponsored departments or clubs are eligible for this round of LPC funding.

As part of the County Executive’s “Dutchess Invests” initiative to direct part of the County’s American Rescue Plan funding from the federal government toward community priority areas, the Learn, Play, Create program awarded $3 million in grants to 147 various organizations in 2021.