ELKHART — United Way of Elkhart County has distributed more than $50,000 in spring innovation grants to fund five agencies’ programs in Elkhart County.

The innovation grants go to new or emerging programs that help meet United Way’s goal of improving the community through creative approaches to significant needs, according to information from United Way. This spring, the Boys & Girls Club of Elkhart County, Five Star and ADEC each received $15,000 from United Way. The LaSalle Council of Boys Scouts received $6,000 and Elkhart Community Schools received a $5,000 grant.

ADEC

ADEC will receive $75,000 in total in innovation grants, with United Way supplying $15,000 each six months, to offer clients further independence through technology.

ADEC, a local nonprofit organization that serves and supports the local disability community, is planning to use this first installment to hire a coordinator to research, develop and apply new technologies across the agency, according to information from ADEC.

Paula Shively, ADEC’s CEO, said in a release, ”Using technology, we hope to shape a new industry model that can potentially serve more people more efficiently while tapping fewer resources.”

Some helpful innovations include touch-screen kiosks and iPads with speaking apps, according to ADEC.

BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF ELKHART COUNTY

The Boys & Girls Clubs of Elkhart County will use the $15,000 innovation grant to help fund the “Mitch’s Kids” educational assistance initiative during the summer months at Boys & Girls Club sites in Elkhart, Goshen, Middlebury and Nappanee, according to information from the Club. Mitch’s Kids offers tutoring and academic assistance to kids from lower-income families. The program helps minimize summer learning loss, which is a greater issue for disadvantaged students, according to the Club.

FIVE STAR LIFE

The local youth character and leadership development program will use its $15,000 grant to encourage academic improvement in Five Star’s five participating Elkhart County middle schools: Pierre Moran, West Side and North Side middle schools in Elkhart; Goshen Middle School; and Concord Junior High.

Seth Maust, Five Star’s executive director, said the grant will especially enable the organization to better measure and track student achievement, but that the grant will also go to improving the program’s overall curriculum and the training of mentors and volunteers.

BOYS SCOUTS, LASALLE COUNCIL

The Boys Scouts LaSalle Council will use its $6,000 grant to implement an after-school scouting program, focused on school subjects like computers, language and culture, art and math, according to information from United Way.

The boys will read about a particular subject and, at times, explain what each learned, encouraging the boys’ reading and writing skills while also learning about other subjects.

The program will be at Mary Beck, Monger, Roosevelt and Hawthorne elementary schools in Elkhart.

ELKHART COMMUNITY SCHOOLS

The $5,000 United Way grant to Elkhart Community Schools will go toward the school corporations’ bullying prevention initiative.

The program is designed to increase student awareness of bullying and prepare students to intervene when they see bullying, according to United Way.

By developing leadership skills, teaching safe intervention strategies and increasing students’ willingness to address injustices, the program improves relationships and improves the school environment, which helps set the stage for academic success.