Four local Greenlee County projects have been selected to receive a total of $300,000 in grants from the 2018 Greenlee County Community Investment Fund process at an awards ceremony during the Greenlee County Chamber of Commerce mixer on Wednesday.
Community Investment Funds were established to give to leaders in the areas where Freeport-McMoRan operates to address local priority issues.
Tracy Bame, President of the Freeport-McMoRan Foundation said, “We believe one of our key responsibilities is to assist communities in envisioning and planning for their own sustainable future when our mines are no longer viable.”
The Greenlee County Community Partnership Panel – a group of community leaders who are charged with distributing the grant money, chose:
- The Duncan School District to receive $100,000, to fight, manage and learn about invasive weeds in the community by identifying invasive species and minimize the invasion of Russian Knapweed and prevent further agricultural and watershed impacts in the region.
The next group that were chosen were:
- ToothBUDDS. ToothBUDDS provides preventative dental care to school-aged students across the region. ToothBUDDS received a $50,000 grant.
- The Town of Clifton was the recipient of a $100,000 grant from Freeport for Waste Water Treatment Plant Improvements.
- And the fourth recipient of $50,000 was the Graham and Greenlee County Micro-Loan Fund.
In a community with limited access to small commercial loans, funds will be added to an existing micro-loan fund and will be available exclusively to businesses serving Greenlee County.
