New technical/vocational education grant program now open for application

A new $200,000 grant program to support technical and vocational education programs in Barton, Dade and Jasper counties is now open for application.

The Schilling Technical Educational Grant Program will provide grants of up to $50,000 to eligible nonprofits, including schools and municipal organizations, serving the tri-county area.

The Schilling Community Fund is held by the Lockwood Community Foundation and managed by the Community Foundation of the Ozarks (CFO). Through a planned gift in their estate, Clinton and Nancy Schilling donated farmland they owned across Barton, Dade, Jasper and Lawrence counties to support the Schilling Community Fund, a scholarship endowment for students in the four counties and a designated endowment for Immanuel Lutheran Church in Lockwood. Clinton, a Lockwood native, died in 2020; Nancy died in 2021.

Clinton, a Lockwood native, died in 2020; Nancy died in 2021.

Funding priorities include:

• Equipment for classrooms or hands-on education
• Curriculum
• Continuing-education stipends for educators
• Expenses for students to attend trade shows, competitions or conferences
• Facility renovations
• Capital requests (if nearing the end of a capital campaign)

Agencies can begin the application process at The Community Foundation of the Ozarks is the region’s largest public charitable foundation serving donors, nonprofit partners and 55 regional affiliate foundations — including Lockwood Community Foundation, DACO Community Foundation, Barton County Community Foundation, Joplin Regional Community Foundation, Carthage Community Foundation and Sarcoxie Community Foundation — with assets totaling $494 million as of June 30, 2024. The CFO’s mission is to improve the quality of life for everyone in central and southern Missouri through resource development, community grantmaking, collaboration and public leadership.

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