FFNHA awards fiscal year 2024 grants

Freedom’s Frontier National Heritage Area (FFNHA) awarded grant funding to twelve partner organizations last week, closing out its grant cycle for the 2024 fiscal year.

Grant recipients were Cass County Historical Society, the Historical Cherryvale Museum, Douglas County Historical Society, Geary County Historical Society, Gordon Parks Museum, Monticello Community Historical Society, Mount Mitchell Prairie Guards, Oregon California Trails Association, Shawnee Indian Mission, Shawnee County Historical Society, Union Cemetery Historical Society, and Wyandot Nation of KS.

Kate Sutter, Director of Programming, highlighted the importance of small museums and historical societies to local economies. “As big as the heritage area is in terms of size, it’s still a network of tight-knit communities. From urban to rural and small to large, the whole thing is interconnected. Each new attraction brings visitors who will stop at a local restaurant or gas station and spend money locally. That’s the exciting part.”

FFNHA has been awarding interpretive grants annually since 2012. The FFNHA Project Grant program will resume in fiscal year 2025, which begins in October. Over the past 12 years, Freedom’s Frontier grant programs have funded over 100 projects across 41 counties.