In releasing its first round of grant funding for the year, the Louis W. and Dolpha Baehr Foundation recently announced some of the $114,960 would go toward furthering the robotics education of a local club, according to the Miami County Republic.
The foundation committed $5,000 to help the Panther Robotics cover operational and travel costs for robotics competitions. The club was one of 50 organizations that applied for a grant.
Kathy Lovig, the chairwoman of the foundation's board of directors, said narrowing down the list to choose recipients wasn't easy.
“There just are never enough funds to cover all of the requests that come in,” she told the newspaper.
The $114,960 the foundation awarded accounts for much of the $170,000 it plans to give out this year, the newspaper reports. The rest of the grants will be handed out in the fall.
A foundation in Kansas also recently awarded robotics-focused grants. The L.P. "Pat" Mullen Fund awarded more than $10,000 to a pair of local high schools to purchase robotics kits and cover the expenses associated with taking part in robotics competitions.