Carlisle Soccer Club, Inc. has received a $5,000 grant from the Warren County Philanthropic Partnership. Grant funds will be combined with capital funds to purchase a new commercial lawn mower for the Carlisle Soccer Complex.

"We were excited to find out that our club received this grant," says Mark True, club president. "We’ve applied for a number of different grants and this is the first one that we won. We have big plans, so we hope this is the first of many."

The club has been relying on volunteers and their own equipment to mow the 12-acre complex before the board of directors agreed to buy a used mower last fall . The mower didn’t arrive before the end of the season and the vendor, Barker Implement in Indianola, agreed to work with the club on the purchase of a newer, larger mower that will allow volunteers to get the job done more quickly, if additional funds became available.

"This grant allows us to use the money we had to buy a mower that will get the job done more quickly, and we can move on to some of the other needs we have as a growing club," says True. "Our next step is to install some supply lines from the well pump to make irrigation easier for the volunteers."

After installing the supply lines, the club hopes to receive some donated goals and then start working on the next big goal: $150,000 to install an in-ground sprinkler system, new pump motor and electrical service.

"This first grant was a small step," says True. "The rest of them are real big!"