LYND — Lynd Public School has been awarded a $1,000 Kindness Investment Program (KIP) grant from the United Way of Southwest Minnesota (UWSWMN) to help support water quality for staff, students and visitors.

Specifically, the grant will assist Lynd in upgrading existing water filling stations to improve the overall quality of the water.

“We are very happy we are able to help them out with that,” Meg Louwagie, CEO of UWSWMN, said. “It fits right into our Youth Opportunities and Healthy Communities (priorities), and (helping) not only just the students, but the staff as well over in Lynd and taking care of them.”

KIP grants are a newer initiative the UWSWMN created over recent years, around 2023, that allows the organization to support businesses with quicker investments to help with smaller-scale community-level projects.

“This grant is meant to be a faster investment for the community,” Louwagie said. “We’re always looking (for) something that also has to fall into our priority area, so it is still within the realm of what we support into our community.”

UWSWMN priority areas are supporting projects that assist with Youth Opportunities, Healthy Communities, Financial Security and Community Resiliency.

“KIP Grants are a great way for local groups to move small community projects forward,” Tanya Moat, UWSWMN Community Impact and Internal Programs Coordinator, said. “These are projects where a small sum of money can make a big impact, and we encourage eligible organizations to explore how a KIP Grant might support their work.”

The KIP grants are awarded throughout the year, depending on available funding, and up to $1,000 for projects that align with UWSWMN priorities. They are geared toward nonprofit organizations, public schools and government units.

“The city of Tracy actually contacted us, because they were doing a welcome book for one of their city programs, and they wanted to give away welcome books in three different languages. They needed some funds, and at the time, we didn’t have a process in place to be able to grant out smaller amounts,” Louwagie said regarding how UWSWMN started the KIP grants.

“We decided that (it) was something we were interested in doing, and so we put the KIP grant in place. As long as we have funds available, they are available. Organizations can apply for them, (but) they cannot be a CIG recipient already,” Louwagie added.

Community Impact Grants (CIG) is UWSWMN’s largest community investment granting service, which again supports the main priority areas.

“We have some people that come back, and we always encourage them to maybe look at our CIG application if they’re looking for more funding,” Louwagie said. “Other people find that $1,000 or less is just right for their needs … We’re always looking and we’re always open to look at what people would like us to help them with.”

United Way of Southwest Minnesota services the counties and school districts of Lincoln, Lyon, Murray, Yellow Medicine, portions of Cottonwood, Lac qui Parle, Nobles and Redwood.