Area counties awarded federal funds



Grant, Alfalfa and Dewey counties have been awarded $2,000 each in Phase 27 federal funds under the Emergency Food and Shelter National Board Program.

These funds will be allocated to local governmental and/or private 501 (c) 3 non-profit agencies to provide food, shelter, rent/mortgage and utility assistance with the intent of decreasing homelessness. The selection was made by a national board chaired by Federal Emergency Management Agency and consisting of representatives from Salvation Army, American Red Cross, United Jewish Communities, Catholic Charities, National Council of the Churches of Christ and United Way.

The local board is charged with distributing funds appropriated by Congress to help expand the capacity of food and shelter programs in high-need areas around the country.

Qualifying agencies must be a non-profit or a unit of the government, have an accounting system,  have had an audit if last year’s budget was more than $100,000, practice nondiscrimination (no religious proselytizing), have demonstrated the capability to deliver emergency food and shelter programs and, if a private non-profit agency, have a voluntary board. Funds are not to be used for new programs, but to extend or supplement existing programs.

Agency applications may be obtained by contacting United Way of Enid and Northwest Oklahoma, P.O. Box 5828, Enid, OK 73702. Completed applications are due at the United Way office by noon Monday. For information, call United Way at (580) 237-0821.

Justice joins Teach For America



Enid native Edward Justice has joined Teach For America, the national corps of college graduates who commit to teach for two years in urban and rural public schools in low-income communities.

Justice is a 1987 graduate of Enid High School, 1998 graduate of University of Alaska-Fairbanks and will teach in the Mississippi Delta beginning this fall.   

Teach For America received a record-breaking 46,000 applications this year, and admission was more selective than ever before, with an acceptance rate of 12 percent.

Teach For America recruits on more than 350 college campuses, seeking graduates from all academic majors and backgrounds who have demonstrated achievement, perseverance and leadership. At more than 120 colleges and universities, more than  5 percent of the senior class applied, including 12 percent of all seniors at Ivy League schools, 7 percent of the graduating class at the University of Michigan and 6 percent at the University of California-Berkeley.

This fall, more than 8,200 first- and second-year Teach For America corps members will be teaching in 39 urban and rural regions nationwide. They will reach students in more than 100 school districts in 31 states and the District of Columbia.



American Legion officer

election set for Aug. 30



There will be a re-election of American Legion post officers at 7 p.m. Aug. 30.

All officers and board members are required to attend.