FAIRMONT – If you oversee a playground, public park or gym, now’s your chance to get in the game with Marion County Parks and Recreation.
The organization is now accepting applications for its 2026 Community Grant Program, said Tina Mascaro, who directs sport management services for MCPARC.
While grant monies may be used for the purchase of uniforms, basketballs and the like, those dollars, she said, can do a lot for entities in the business of keeping people of all ages on the physically active side of the scale.
“Their purpose is to help you upkeep and enhance your parks and other facilities,” Mascaro said, “so people can keep enjoying them.”
Since 1989, when the grants first began, MCPARC has funneled more than $1 million into the community for the purpose of just that, the director said.
Applications will be accepted through March 11. A total of $65,000 has been designated for the program, MCPARC said, and people and organizations may apply for amounts from $500 to $5,000.
Visit www.mcparc.com to download the application.
Last year, a MCPARC grant helped fund the installation of an outdoor classroom and sensory playground at East Park Elementary in Fairmont.
Hough Park in Mannington used an outlay in recent years to replace the rusting hoops on its basketball court – and MCPARC community monies also purchased a new scoreboard at Fairmont’s 5th Street Gym.
Twelve parks and recreational facilities across Fairmont and the county are in the MCPARC network, including East Marion Park and its wave-generating pool, which was the region’s first.
“Everybody loves the wave pool,” Mascaro said.
