HERMANN – Two Gasconade County organizations are among the 16 inaugural recipients of grant funding from Amazon as part of the technology company’s investments in the region through the Montgomery County Community Fund.

The Hermann Community Food Pantry and the Hermann-Area Chamber of Commerce are the local organizations benefiting from Amazon’s show of support Thursday morning at the Rotunda in the Upper City Park. Of all the recipients, the Hermann Community Food Pantry received the largest single amount – the maximum of $12,000 – awarded to any of the 16 organizations.

The Food Pantry award is aimed at helping the organization deal with the issue of food insecurity within the Gasconade County R-1 School District. The Pantry qualified for the funding in large part because the R-1 district extends across the Missouri River into southern Montgomery County, including Rhineland and Big Spring.

The Hermann-Area Chamber of Commerce, with a service area that also includes southern Montgomery County, received $5,000 to help with its comprehensive regional housing and workforce strategy to support future job growth.

The Amazon Montgomery County Community Fund was established as part of the company’s development of one of two data centers being constructed in the Interstate 70 Corridor near the I-70-Highway 19 intersection. The other data center is being developed by Google. Google has pledged financial support to such community organizations as local schools and emergency service agencies.

Amazon’s Devon Cole said the awards ceremony Thursday morning, which included a catered breakfast by Culinary Creations of Hermann, was simply a way of showing the company’s support to the communities in which it does business.

While most of the grant recipients are located in Montgomery County, others are from outside the immediate area but provide services to residents of this region. That includes the St. Louis-based company Per Scholas Inc, which provides technology-service support to individuals and start-up businesses. The company received $10,000 to help it grow the state’s technology workforce through targeted workforce training programs. The company most recently expanded its services into the Kansas City region, a company representative told the Gasconade County Republican.

Other organizations and their grant amounts include:

Bellflower Youth Club, $5,000, to provide safe, fun and engaging activities for local youth regardless of financial background within the Bellflower community; District 8 Department of Missouri Veterans of Foreign Wars, $10,000, to fund the store that provides necessities for homeless veterans and their families; Montgomery City Lions Club, $10l000, to update and improve the Lions Club facility, which serves as a community gathering place bringing residents together; Montgomery County 4-H Council, $10,000, to advance STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) programming with hands-on learning experiences that build skills for youth across the county;

Montgomery County Health Department, $10,000, to provide diapers for infants in need; Montgomery County Senior Center, $10,000, to improve the existing facility to increase activities for services for the county’s older residents; Neighborhood Forest, $10,000, to help the agency plant a food forest that combines environmental stewardship with long-term food access for the community; New Florence Lion’s Club, $10,000, as a reinvestment in the group’s community building serving as a site for gatherings, celebrations and a place for residents to connect;

Revival KC Inc., $10,000, to reduce digital barriers and expand access to technology and digital skills; Street Patrol, $8,000, to support the group that brings food, clothing and dignity to St. Louis’ forgotten neighborhoods reaching people living in tent communities and other areas; Wellsville Community Athletic League, $10,000, to make improvements to the ballpark, including replacing basketball hoops and upgrading facilities so that the space can better serve the community; Wellsville-Middletown R-1 School District, $10,000, to provide robotics components and tools for an experience that makes learning competitive, fun and engaging; Youth In Need, $10,000, to introduce STEAM exploration in early childhood classroom and outdoor learning environments and giving children more opportunities to build curiosity and critical-thinking skills.