More COVID-19 Relief Available Thru Community Charitable Relief Program

The latest in Wyoming’s series of COVID-19 relief programs aims to extend some charity to charities.

Governor Mark Gordon has announced that over $12 million dollars have been made available to nonprofit organizations thru the Community Charitable Relief Program. But, unlike previous programs, this one will be decided and distributed on a local level.

The other COVID-19 relief programs – such as the Agriculture, Endurance, and Mitigation funds – saw agencies submit an application to the Wyoming Business Council. While these programs have been successful in aiding Wyoming businesses, Governor Gordon has something different in mind for the latest program.

With the Community Charitable Relief Program, all funding decisions will be made on the local level, by county commissioners or tribal governments. Those entities will be charged with determining where their portion of the funding will have the most impact and which local charities or nonprofits will receive it.

The rationale is simple: county commissioners know their communities and charities. They will be better able to evaluate those agencies on an individual basis and see which would benefit most from additional relief.

“No one can say this has been an easy year. There are so many needs that have been highlighted by the challenge of this virus and all that accompanied it,” Governor Gordon said. “Never has the work of charitable organizations been more important and they have shouldered additional responsibilities in so many ways. This program will give county and tribal governments the ability to provide some more support to those organizations that they know have served the public and been impacted by the COVID-19 crisis.”

Wyoming nonprofit organizations are encouraged to contact county commissioners or the tribal business council in their service area for additional details on the grant process. Rules of the program are available at https://rules.wyo.gov/ by searching Emergency Rules for the “Community Charitable Relief Program.”