Soap Lake wins NFCS grant

SOAP LAKE — The City of Soap Lake received a $750 grant from Northwest Farm Credit Services to help pay for the construction of youth soccer fields.

According to Deb Strohmaier, communications specialist with Northwest Farm Credit Services, the grant is part of Northwest’s commitment to helping rural communities in the areas it serves.

“The rural community grant program is available to non-profits, community groups, cities and the like, and we give them out three times a year,” she said.

“We fund everything from bleachers in school, to improvements to fire department buildings, to daycare centers,” she said. “You name it, if it’s in a rural community and meets requirements.”

Of course, the grant won’t cover the cost of three “youth sized” soccer fields, Strohmaier said. One of the program’s requirements is community support and fundraising for any project being considered for a grant.

So far, in 2017, Northwest Farm Credit Services has awarded grants on $156,000 to 115 projects in rural communities in Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington.

The next deadline for the Northwest Farm Credit Services rural grant is Oct. 1, 2017.