Target store gets involved locally

INDIAN HILLS - The new Carson City Target store has handed out its first series of grants to local organizations.

Assistant manager Lindley Baker presented Target grant checks totaling $7,750 to five area organizations that previously applied for the community grants through Target's companywide, 5 percent donation policy:

-- $2,000 to Jacks Valley Elementary School for a visiting artist mural project.

-- $2,000 to the Brewery Arts Center Stage Kids for a multi-cultural outreach touring show.

-- $1,750 to Carson City's Advocates to End Domestic Violence.

-- $1,750 to the Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) program.

-- $250 to Covering Kids, which offers families without health insurance an affordable option. Because Covering Kids will be handing out insurance applications Halloween night at the governor's mansion, the check was presented to Nevada First Lady Dema Guinn.

Target's grant-making program returned 5 percent of federally taxable income to community organizations that strengthen family life, according to company policy. Each week in 1999, Target's parent company, Dayton Hudson, is giving back more than $1 million across America.

In addition to the community focused grants, Target also supports programs on a national scale, including Take Charge of Education, the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, the Washington Monument restoration and Target Volunteers.

Through several innovative programs, the Take Charge of Education initiative has provided nearly $10 million to furthering education in the United States. One program, School Fund raising, lets Target Guest Card holders to designate 1 percent of their purchases on the card to the school of their choice.

St. Jude in Memphis, Tenn., specializes in research and treatment of pediatric cancer and other catastrophic childhood diseases. With an $11 million commitment, Target helped build "Target House," an upscale, 50-unit apartment complex where long-term patients and their families can live as they undergo treatment at St. Jude.

The Washington Monument restoration project it Target's partnership with the National Park Service and National Park Foundation to restore the well-known Washington, D.C. landmark.

Target Volunteers, a nationwide network of volunteers, annual donates 170,000 hours to more than 5,000 projects, such as recycling, Meals-On-Wheels, school mentoring and Special Olympics.