The City Council on Wednesday voted to award $5,000 each to six local non-profit organizations as part of Apopka’s new non-profit grant program.  

The council approved 4-1 the grant recommendations from the city’s non-profit grant program selection committee. The committee first met on Sept. 10 to review and score the inaugural group of applicants.  

The program aims to financially help school organizations, booster clubs, and non-profits that help at-risk people, youth, and senior-focused programs in Apopka.  

Commissioner Nadia Anderson voted no on the recommendations because she was worried about the fairness and structure of the applicant questioning process.  

“There should be a detailed list of questions,” she said. “And as an applicant, if I don’t present well, or if they don’t like the way I’m presenting, I just think it’s just not fair to have to have a free-for-all for $5,000.” 

The non-profit grant program awards grants ranging from $500 to $5,000. Each qualifying organization must provide at least a 50% match, which can be given in a mix of cash donations and in-kind contributions, according to the website of the city’s nonprofit grant program.  

The committee scored each of the applicants based on the following criteria, totaling 100 points: proposal content, 35 points; years of service, 25 points; grant match, 30 points; and group’s benefit to Apopka, 10 points.  

Lorena Potter, who was appointed the chair at the Sept. 10 meeting, Dr. Loretta Forlaw, Maribel Brinkle, Martha McCray and Sylvester Hall are the committee members. 

The city received applications from the seven organizations during the program’s first grant application window, which spanned from Aug. 1 to Aug. 29.  

Five organizations — Central Florida Council, Scouting America; Drums in Recovery, Inc.; Florida Impact, L.O.V.E. Our Youth, Inc.; Loving Assisting Nurturing Educating and Supporting Teenage Girls, Inc. (LANES) — have each requested $5,000, which the grant committee recommended the city should award, according to the Sept. 17 City Council meeting agenda. Each of these organizations has said they will provide a 100% match.  

Re-Imagine Communities will receive $5,000 with the group raising a 50% match. MENTOR Florida will not be awarded its requested $5,000 because it submitted incomplete application.   

The selection committee recommended improvements to the grant program and future application cycles.  

The first recommendation was to ask applicants to provide a 5-minute presentation at the scoring meeting, highlighting their application and program. 

The second recommendation was to offer applicants the opportunity to provide a 5-minute program recap presentation to the committee at the completion of the grant period. 

The committee’s third recommendation was to update the application to include a specific, standalone section where applicants clearly identify the percentage and type of grant match they are providing. 

“We did the best that we could as a committee with the tools that we were given,” Potter said at the meeting. “We judged the applicants on the rubric that we were given. We did make suggestions for improvement. We were kind of surprised none of the applicants actually came to the public meeting. So that would be something nice in the future, or for us to have the ability to ask them questions.” 

Each group described, in its program application, what they intend to use the requested grant money for:  

• Central Florida Council, Scouting America wants to further its annual recruitment efforts, seeking to bolster its number from the current 147 Scouts registered in Apopka to at least 180 youth by the end of the year.  

• Drums in Recovery, Inc. wants to bring to Sheeler Alternative High School students a community-based arts program that uses drumming to build life skills and emotional health. 

• Florida Impact wants to fund its youth leadership program Getting Empowered Matters (G.E.M.S.), which sets up people with the resources, knowledge and tools to address hunger, limited access and lack of opportunity.  

• L.O.V.E. Our Youth Inc. intends to fund the Elementary S.T.E.A.M. Summer Camp, serving Apopka K-6 children at least 6 years of age.  

• LANES will continue its various mentorship programs for at-risk girls who attend Title I schools and live in neighborhoods with limited access to resources.  

• Re-Imagine Communities want to fund the Apopka Area Student Awards to recognize students’ achievements.  

Editor’s note: This story was updated to reflect the action the City Council took at its Sept. 17 regularly scheduled meeting.