The Mahaska County Conservation Board has been awarded a $10,000 grant to help defray the costs FEMA won’t cover to restore Eveland Access damaged by flooding this year.

MCCB Director Mike Gipple said the money would go toward purchasing and planting news trees, replace grass seeding, picnic tables and fire rings.

“We’re using it to address some issues FEMA will not do,” Gipple said earlier this week. “So, we’re using that money to address those parts of our property that were damaged by flooding above what FEMA is willing to do.”

The $10,000 grant came from the Embrace Iowa: 2008 Iowa Disaster Fund. The fund was established to promote and receive private-sector contributions from individuals, businesses and organizations to benefit Iowans who have experienced significant hardship as a result of the storms and floods of 2008.

County community foundations were used as conduits to get the funding process started, Mahaska County Community Foundation Treasurer Amy Nossaman said. The next step was to talk to human service agencies in Mahaska County to see if a need existed that FEMA was not addressing.

“So when I talked to Jill Dursky and Nancy Place, right off the top of our heads we couldn’t come up with any needs because this county a lot of the damage was agricultural land,” Nossaman said. “And individual farmers don’t qualify. It has to be like a non-profit agency.”

Timing of the most recent Embrace Iowa grant cycle and the current lack of need at United Way and Mahaska County Red Cross Chapter precluded them, but it didn’t preclude the obvious need MCCB had at Eveland Access.

“And so because the time frame was just so short. And I had already talked to Mike about it and he said ‘Yes’ because I knew Eveland was in really bad shape,” Nossaman said, who works at William Penn University as director of advancement research. “And those funds weren’t being met by FEMA.”

Nossaman said Embrace Iowa is on a 30-day grant cycle and any Mahaska County non-profits with need not being met by FEMA should look to them for help.

“The only counties that are eligible are those counties that were declared disasters by the Governor,” she said. “If there’s other non-profits that have applied to FEMA and FEMA’s declined something or is paying for a portion but not a portion, the Embrace Iowa Funds are an option for them to apply for.”

Embrace Iowa recently announced they are accepting applications for another round of grants. The applications have to be turned in by Aug. 28. Any Mahaska County non-profit that would like to receive a grant application should contact Amy Nossaman at (641) 673-1057 of email her at nossamana@wmpenn.edu.

To learn more about the Embrace Iowa: 2008 Iowa Disaster Fund or to make a contribution, visit www.EmbraceIowa.org or call (515) 447-4222.

Herald City Editor Michael Schaffer can be reached by email at mschaffer@oskyherald.com