BELLE — Meramec Regional Community Foundation (MRCF) awarded the Belle Community Betterment Association (BCBA) with a $500 grant for its Welcome to Belle sign landscaping project. The checks were presented at MRCF’s March meeting at MRPC in St. James. This year, the MRCF board reviewed a total of 19 grant applications, requesting a total of $9,500 and representing projects in Crawford, Dent, Gasconade, Maries, Osage, Phelps, Pulaski and Washington counties. The Belle Community Betterment Association was one of three projects selected for funding.

The funds will be used to purchase landscape matting, edging, decorative rock and bushes in order to complete landscaping around the new Welcome to Belle sign. The labor is being provided by members of the BCBA. This is the final component to completion of this project.

“We are very excited and thankful that the Belle Community Betterment Association was awarded this grant,” said BCBA members Barb Schaller and Vicki Nelson via email. “One of the missions of our group is to complete beautification projects in our Belle community. This grant will definitely help us complete the landscaping around the Welcome to Belle sign this summer. We are so grateful these grant opportunities exists through the Meramec Regional Community Foundation for communities and organizations in this region.”

The other recipients were Hope Alliance of Missouri for direct cost support and the Salvation Army of Pulaski County for its Helping Hands for Those in Need program.

MRCF is an outgrowth of the Meramec Regional Planning Commission (MRPC) and is an affiliate of Community Foundation of the Ozarks (CFO) in Springfield. The regional affiliate was formed in 2010. Its 12-member board includes representation from each of the eight Meramec counties and from MRPC. Jared Niederer of Gasconade County serves as chairman of MRCF.

Currently, MRCF has 50 funds totaling over $4.1 million.