Last year, the Washington State Genealogical Society announced the creation of the “WSGS Innovative Grant Program.” The grants, up to $100, were designed to support the inventive and creative efforts of WSGS-member societies and organizations. Five societies received grants at the 2015 Annual Conference in Ellensburg:

Dead tree slated for removal

Chelan Valley Genealogical Society – Purchase of a computer, solely for genealogical research, at the Chelan Public Library. The computer will have access to Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org.

Northeast Washington Genealogical Society – Removal of trees that are endangering the safety of people and protection of grave markers at the Evergreen Cemetery, a local cemetery near Colville.

Skagit Valley Genealogical Society – Purchase of a new laptop computer to be used for society presentations and transcription of documents from the Northwest Regional Archives in Bellingham.

Tri-City Genealogical Society – Funds will support the society’s “Archived Records Contest” which encourages individuals to share records they have obtained by various means other than just downloading an image from the Internet.

WAGS was able to purchase a second FileMaker Pro 12 software program that doubled the access time for dedicated volunteers who work many hours maintaining and improving the WAGS Library collection.

Wenatchee Area Genealogical Society – Purchase specialized computer software to enable more than one volunteer to enter data related to local obituaries, cemetery records, World War I records and more.

The 2016 deadline for submitting a grant proposal is JUNE 1. The simple one-page application and additional information are available here.

Contact Roxanne Lowe, WSGS Recognition and Special Awards chair, at Roxanne@thekeeffes.com if you have questions.