The first afternoon and evening of the Des Moines Arts Festival is underway. A the southwest corner of the festival is the Carlisle Soccer Club beer and wine tent. It’s our biggest fundraiser of the year so make plans to stop by for a cold drink tonight, Saturday or Sunday. The workers (pictured) are having fun!
Carlisle Soccer has received a $770 grant from the Warren County Philanthropic Partnership. Grant funds will be used to help rebuild and beautify the entrance to the complex.
"Last summer’s construction project along the north edge of the complex meant that we had to remove a lot of trees, so we have a blank slate to work on," says Joy LeClaire, Carlisle Soccer Club president. "This grant will go a long way toward purchasing new trees and shrubbery.
"Now all we need is some volunteers and some additional donations to help us make it happen," she adds.
Volunteers interested in helping select and plant the trees and shrubs should contact Lisa Wilson, fund raising director. If you’d like to make a cash or in-kind donation to help us extend the grant, you may also contact Lisa.
The Warren County Philanthropic Partnership was organized to promote and enhance community based philanthropy in Warren County. The Partnership recently received a state award to facilitate endowment building and grantmaking. The contribution to the foundation was made possible by the Iowa General Assembly. In 2004, the Iowa legislature passed several bills to encourage foundation building and community based philanthropy. Among these measures was HF 2032 which provided that non-gambling counties, initiating a county-wide community foundation would be eligible to receive one half of one percent of the state’s gross gamblin tax receipts. Twenty six grant applications were received and twenty two organizations across Warren County shared in the funding allocations.
This is Carlisle Soccer Club’s second grant from the partnership.
Club Receives Carlisle Grant
The Greater Carlisle Community Foundation recently awarded a grant of $480 to the Carlisle Soccer Club for the construction of a new fence between the driveway and the playing areas.
"This fence will keep our players safer by keeping them away from incoming cars," says LeClaire. "It should also help us maintain safe traffic patterns inside the complex."
The grant will cover materials for about 240 feet fencing, which will be installed with volunteer labor. The Club is seeking additional dollars to complete more than 1,500 feet of fencing around the complex eventually.
Just in case you haven’t seen the latest order form, here it is for download! Complete the form, attach your check made out to Van Ginkel’s and turn it in this Sunday at the concession stand if you want to get it as a part of the next club-wide printing. If you’re not ready, but still want to grab some great gear, complete the form and mail it in to Van Ginkel’s directly.
Hey Carlisle soccer fans…if you like Sunbelt Granola bars, you can help the Club win some cash.
Just buy Sunbelt Granola bars at your favorite store, then go to the website and enter a code from their box we earn cash, and get entered for a chance to win monthly $1,000 drawings!
Carlisle Soccer players and friends Taylor Whipple, Ashton Goodhue-Nolte, Lindsey Kamerick and Madison Polley attended the Julie Foudy Sports Leadership Academy (JFSLA) in Chicago last summer, and completed a community sevice project spawned by the camp experience on January 9, 2010. The goal of the project was to introduce young kids to soccer, get them to sign up for soccer with the Carlisle Soccer Club which in turn would help increase funds for the club to help improve field conditions. The failure of the well pump late last summer slowed progress and the girls wanted to help raise money toward the replacement.
"The Club needs funds to pay for a costly irrigation system to keep the grass growing," Taylor wrote in her letter to camp leader and former U.S. women’s national team member Julie Foudy.
The girls and their friends from the Crazy Kickers and the Carlise Crush held an indoor soccer clinic for kids ages 4 to 6 years old. All participants received a soccer ball and a "Krazy Crush Clinic" t-shirt. The 35 kids were formed into groups of 8-10 players where they went through several activities such as "Red Light Green Light," "Ghostbusters," "Tail Chase" and many others. Each activity included elements with the soccer ball and some without a ball.
"We taught the kids what part of the foot to dribble with and how to shield the ball," Taylor wrote to Foudy. "The kids had a blast!"
The clinic organizers had registration for spring soccer and information about our club available and several kids registered. The board of directors was so impressed, it’s considering making this an annual event. Besides the core group, other Carlisle soccer players helped with the clinic, including: Emma Staecker, Madison Staecker, Johanna Haack, Mariah Sadler, Jonathan Kamerick, Kyle Whipple and several parent helpers.
The "Krazy Crush" clinic wouldn’t have been such a success without a$250 grant from the JFSLA, and a $200 donations from Sheels and a $150 donation Goodhue-Nolte Insurance.
The Carlisle Soccer Club has received a $5,000 grant from the Warren County Philanthropic Partnership.
Grant funds will help the Club upgrade its irrigation system with a new electric motor, pump and future underground irrigation system.
"We’re excited to have been awarded this grant," says Lisa Wilson, Carlisle Soccer Club director of development. "We’re getting ready to take a huge step toward improving our fields and this grant is a great first step toward an investment in our Club and in soccer in
The Club will soon purchase an electric motor to replace the gas-powered engine that failed last July, pay for supplies to run electrical service to the motor and a new pump that will eventually supply in-ground irrigation. A lot of the labor for the project will be done by volunteers and through in-kind donations of service.
The Warren County Philanthropic Partnership was organized to promote and enhance community based philanthropy in
The contribution to the foundation was made possible by the Iowa General Assembly. In 2004 the
Among these measures was H.F. 2032 which provided that non-gambling counties, initiating a county-wide community foundation would be eligible to receive on half of one percent of the stat’s gross gambling tax receipts.
Eighteen grant applications were received and eleven organizations across
The Carlisle Soccer Club recently received a $500 grant for the purchase of new u12 goals from the Greater Carlisle Community Foundation.
On hand to receive the check a few weeks ago were: (front row, left to right) Haley Gruber; Makayla Curiel; Madison Polley; JoJo Haack; (second row) Audrey Gruber; Rachel Studer; Alanys Burgess; (third row) Cindy Rockwell, Foundation president; Mark True, Club president; Paul Gruber, Club vice-president; Marci Haack, Club development director; Denny Studer, Club treasurer; and Melinda Huisinga, chair of the Foundation’s Grantmaking Committee.
The Greater Carlisle Community Foundation was founded in 2005 for the purpose of providing philanthropic support for community betterment projects in the greater Carlisle area, including the communities of Palmyra, Easter Lake, Avon, Carlisle and Hartford. The foundation’s areas of interest emphasize arts and culture, humanties, enviornment, animals, health, education, human services, public and society benefit.
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!"
After two years and overcoming a number of challenges, the Carlisle Soccer Club is poised to take its program to the next level, and the foundation of that effort is a major capital campaign to improve its facilities. The Club is starting a fundraising drive with a goal of more than $250,000.
“We’ve been our own organization for two full years now, and we’ve managed to get our feet under us and get the program to this level with virtually no fundraising,” says Mark True, Club president. “We’ve relied on registration fees to rent land, buy seed and fertilizer and gas for the well pump motor. We’ve borrowed lawn mowers, used volunteer labor to breathe life into a long-retired motor and prayed for rain through a very dry winter.
“Our players, their parents, the coaches and our board realize that we have accomplished a lot with the resources we have, but to get to where we want to be, we’re going to have to improve dramatically.”
The improvements include faster development of turf, an in-ground sprinkler system, new pump motor, installation of electricity, concession stand and storage facilities. The club has available funds for a new lawn mower in the spring, and a grant has been requested for a larger, newer mower. Plans call for installing an underground line to water to the irrigator in the spring.
“The grass has been the biggest problem for us because our irrigator is very labor intensive and the soil doesn’t hold water well,” says True. “We hope to improve that situation with the new supply lines in the spring, but that’s just a temporary fix. It won’t get the grass as thick we’d like it, especially since we’re practicing on the same fields.”
The club is looking into a number of alternatives including prohibiting practicing on the fields, creating a practice-only area, terra seeding and installing sod. Terra seeding and sod both require an automatic sprinkler system. A new electric pump motor and controller is needed to drive the sprinkler system. Three-phase electrical service would need to be installed at the site to run the motor.
“Clearly, we’re at the point where the next purchase is going to be a big one,” says Paul Gruber, vice president and director of coaching. “We’re helping our coaches become the best-trained coaches in central Iowa, but it won’t do any good if we don’t have an adequate field to play on, and next step to getting our grass growing well will take a major investment.”
The Club’s board of directors met last month to develop a strategic purchasing plan that covers the critical items for further development of the complex, and currently have outstanding grant requests totaling more than $88,000 according to Marci Haack, director of fundraising for the Club. The list of needed items includes two mowers, goals and nets, underground supply lines, terra seeding or sod, in-ground irrigation system, electric well pump motor, practice goals and a building for storage and concessions.
“We know this isn’t going to happen right away,” says Haack, “but we’re working hard to identify available grants and doing our best to tell our story so that we can get this all accomplished in the next five years.”
The Club is also seeking estimates on a number of pieces to the list. In some cases, portions may be donated and in other cases, estimates are difficult to get pinned down without specific plans…plans that require other pieces be put into place first.
“It’s a very big project, be we know we need to get moving because we’re growing fast, says True. “The community has embraced soccer, as evident in the number of volunteers who have stepped forward to help us get this far. If we’re going to meet our future needs, we’re going to need to find some additional funds.”
The Club has prioritized the items, created budget estimates and will purchase them as funds become available, either through corporate and individual donations or from grant distribution.
For more information, contact Mark True, Club president or Marci Haack, fundraising director.