LRCDC Awards Grants to Local Businesses

They say every picture tells a story.
This one reveals our secret.

We’re often asked, “How did Lititz become Lititz – What’s your secret?” The answer is one that doesn’t come easy, and it doesn’t come overnight. While this picture shows a check for nearly $385,000, we don’t want you to think money is the secret to our success. The real story is how those dollars were awarded and who received them. Because the real secret to our success is people. This area thrives because of the people who give so much of themselves to serve our community through their businesses and non-profits, and because of people like the community leaders who make up the board of the Lititz Regional Community Development Corporation (LRCDC) – the local organization that awarded this money to these Lititz-area professionals.

Here in Lititz, it’s not uncommon for business owners and non-profit leaders to pause before making a strategic decision and ask, “What’s best for our community?” It’s that pause that makes our area exceptional and it’s one practiced with care by the members of the LRCDC. Since its inception, the non-profit has had a goal to grow their community investment beyond the large state grants they’ve helped Lititz area corporations receive to grants for the small businesses who are the heart and soul of our community. Recently, that goal was realized.

Now, real money is in the hands of those pictured, all of it going toward projects with a tangible community value. For the Lititz Historical Foundation, the funds mean adding and repairing fencing in the museum gardens. For Lititz Public Library the funds will be allocated to providing more parking for special events and for the neighboring Veterans Honor Park of Lancaster County. A double oven and improved ventilation will come to Slate Cafe, a sterilizer steamer will help Hendricks’ Flower Shop & Greenhouses sterilize and clean soil to prevent weeds and diseases. Stoll and Wolfe Whiskey will use their grant award to purchase a new grain handling system to process rye, corn, and barley grown on a farm north of Lititz. The Lititz recCenter will use the funds for several projects, including the recRoc program, a new pavilion, a basketball court, a relocated storage shed, and a new gaga pit. At Lititz Apothecary, the team has invested in a medicine packaging system for their “Take Back Your Sundays” initiative. The packaging organizes medicines for dosing, alleviating worry about improper dosing and eliminating the need for seniors or caregivers to spend time organizing medicines. Rock Candy will invest funds in expanding office space and conference room space for users of their co-working space on the Rock Lititz Campus. Well Folk Revival will use their grant award toward ancestral living skills like farm-to-table cooking, raising animals, and baking sourdough bread.

Vice President of the LRCDC, Nelson Peters, told The Lititz Record, “We are very pleased to award these grants to the applicants” and President, Mike Vegunas, was impressed by the variety of grants they were able to award and the quality of the applicants. The organization hopes to award grants annually. To learn more about the LRCDC and how your business can apply for future grants, visit the LRCDC’s website.

Pictured above are the Lititz Public Library, Lititz Apothecary, and Slate Cafe. Stay tuned as we hope to tell the story of each recipient and celebrate how their grant funds have helped make an impact both within their business and in the community as a whole.