04/18/12 During Monday’s Marshall County Commissioner’s meeting representatives from various agencies who receive annual funding assistance from the County discussed their services and cliental.
Marshall County 4-H receives $29,000 from the county. Kim Bates, Treasurer of the Fair Board said $3,500 is used by the 4-H Council for awards and the remainder by the Fair-board for building maintenance and fair operations. Last year approximately 600 4-H members had 1,800 projects on display in the Exhibit building while 500 youth shows 1,515 animals at the fair.
The Boys and Girls Clubs of Marshall County each receive $5,000 annually. Billie Treber representing the clubs in Plymouth and Bremen said the overall membership in Plymouth is 500 with an average daily attendance of 98. The Bremen club’s membership is 190 with the average attendance at 56. Membership in the club is $50 yearly with the Plymouth Club having year round attendance while the Bremen Club is open during the school year.
The Culver Boys & Girls Club operates year round with a membership fee of $25. Cory Monnier, Unit Supervisor explained that when a student graduates from high school we want them to be prepared for college, the military or for the workforce. He said their program prides itself on promoting healthy choices and offers a USDA healthy snack daily and 45 minutes of recreation. There are several fundraisers the club has to generate the revenue for operations.
Marshall Starke Development Center receives $100,000 annually with most of the funds being used to transport youths and adults for their programming. The Center serves 468 folks with disabilities on a $5.5 million budget. They have 185 employees who work in the Early Head Start, Head Start and Adult programs.
Jackie Wright from Older Adult Services spoke about the transportation they offer. Currently they have 8 vehicles and will be getting another one this summer. She explained that the $7,500 from the County is used as part of the dollar for dollar match needed to acquire $140,000 from INDOT for transportation. She noted that the City of Plymouth also provided funds in the amount of $6,000.
Wanda Norris from the Soil & Water Conservation District said the nearly $11,000 they receive is used for supplementing the full time position and providing conservation education programing for students.
$40,000 is given to the Marshall County Humane Society annually to care for lost, abandoned, and stray dogs and cats in the county. Their staff included 2 full-time and 2 part-time employees. They have 16 dog runs and weekly Heartland Animal Rescue weekly comes to the center and takes dogs to rescue. There were 33 animal bite cases last year with all but 2 being family pets that bit. They also do several fundraisers a year to keep the shelter open and have an active board who volunteer with the fundraising efforts.
The final agency was the Bowen Center. Jay Baumgartner explained that Indiana Code requires Counties to pay for mental health services in the county. The payment formula for 2013 will be $274,880. Rob Ryan, Director of Out Patient Services aid they serve a little over 2,000 patients from Marshall County each year.
