The Gordon and Edna Sykes Fund, an endowment fund held at the Wyoming Community Foundation, has given four grants to nonprofits in South Big Horn County.

 

The Sykes Fund Advisory Board is now requesting that nonprofits in South Big Horn County submit applications for the November 1 deadline.

 

The Fund was established in December 2006 through a bequest from the Sykes, and it accepted its first round of grant applications in November 2007. From those applications, the Sykes Fund Advisory Board chose to fund four.

 

The projects funded were:

 

“We would not be where we are today” without the grant from the Sykes Fund, said Cheryl Shero, executive director of the Gottsche Rehabilitation and Wellness Center. With the grant money received, the center was able to move into a larger facility and purchase new equipment, which now allows for the treatment of more patients so that they do not have to drive to Billings for care.

 

Extra equipment also allows the center to treat more than one patient at a time, Shero said.

 

“We couldn’t be more thankful or grateful,” Shero said.

 

For the American Legion Post 29, receiving a grant had sentimental value. Workers were able to restore the two canons that sit in front of the Basin library to their former glory.

 

“They’re almost like new,” said Robert Kampbell, the post’s board chair. Now that the cannons have been restored, “they should be there for another 50 or 100 years.”

 

Gordon Sykes had been a member of the American Legion Post 29 for 53 years, and Kampbell said that almost all the people working on the project knew Gordon.

 

To apply for a grant from the Gordon and Edna Sykes Fund, visit www.wycf.org/grants.asp. Questions about the application process may be directed to Samin Dadelahi, senior program office of the WYCF, at 307-721-8300 x15.

 

The Wyoming Community Foundation`s mission is to connect people who care with causes that matter to build a better Wyoming.