Deaf awareness grant winners named

This year, the Grange Foundation awarded three grants to State and Local Granges for their efforts to assist the deaf and hard of hearing.

The Idaho State Grange, New Jersey State Grange and Plumsteadville Grange of Pennsylvania will receive a cash award, ranging from $100 to $300 for their efforts.

In Idaho, the State Grange seeks to use the $300 awarded to buy one wireless headphone for each Grange within in their state.

Currently, Idaho has 30 Granges across the state, so a purchase will allow at least 30 Grange members to be more active in meetings.

“We believe the wireless headphones will assist hard of hearing members to more easily hear conversations, committee reports, lectures and general business being presented,” State Master Don Johnson said.

The wireless reception works from any electrical device with audio output such as a microphone, computer, or iPod.

Second place winner Plumsteadville Grange No. 1738, Pennsylvania, will use the $250 it was awarded to assist in promotion of an annual event they participate in that helps a local school purchase equipment to detect hearing defects earlier.

Plumsteadville Grange, in partnership with the Danboro 4-H, holds an annual community pancake breakfast to aid Bucks County Intermediate Unit No. 22. This year members noticed that the June 9 event brought in fewer dollars to help the school than in past years, a trend for the past few years, and chose to use the grant funds to study the cause and increase awareness of next year’s breakfast.

Finally, New Jersey State Grange Hearing Impaired Service and Education Department was awarded $100.

The department, in conjunction with the state Lecturer, has been working to raise funds for the K-9 Wounded Warrior across the state’s 41 community and 11 Pomona Granges. The project is aimed at educating the public of the number of dogs, and handlers, that have served the United States.

This project is intended to serve a wounded individual from each of the four branches of the Armed Services and the Coast Guard who has suffered hearing loss.

Currently, the New Jersey State Lecturer, Elizabeth Lake, is raffling off a quilt to raise funds, with a goal of $5,000, which will be used to sponsor a K-9 Wounded Warrior Team.

Grange Foundation President Ed Luttrell said the applications and projects were very exciting.

“We’re so happy that our Granges take initiative to help hard-of-hearing and deaf members, raise money for causes that bring light and tools to the hard-of-hearing and deaf issued, and educate the public about hard-of-hearing and deaf issues,” Luttrell said. “It’s important for our Granges to continue their work in this field and for the Foundation to continue its support of such projects.”