The Little BIG Idea Grant program, open for applicants of all ages, brings community placemaking projects to life!
An initiative of Vibrant Communities and the Community Foundation of Elkhart County, the Little BIG Idea Grant program encourages residents to submit creative, fun, and effective ideas for community events, projects, and gatherings that promote quality of place in Elkhart County. All ideas are welcome for consideration by the committee, with microgrant awards ranging up to $500. Fun and festive submissions that offer the potential to increase unity and send positive, long-term ripples throughout the community are especially encouraged.
The Little BIG Idea Grant program also celebrates artistic creativity and encourages people of all ages to apply. Young siblings Bryn and Linden Rothshank, the children of acclaimed Goshen artists Brooke and Justin Rothshank, are some of the youngest Elkhart County change-makers to receive microgrant funding. Husband and wife artists Brooke and Justin Rothshank have each been independently recognized nationally for their artwork; Brooke for her miniature paintings in watercolor, and Justin for his approach to his ceramic forms displaying unique surface decorations, artist-designed decals, and incised stamping techniques.
The Rothshank siblings—Bryn, 9, and Linden, 13—attend Bethany Christian Schools, and came up with an idea to share art throughout the Goshen community by creating a Little Free Art Gallery. According to their mom, the gallery plans to present four indoor gallery openings—one for each season. A $500 microgrant award from the Little BIG Idea Grant program will help Linden and Bryn—along with a helper, Bryn’s friend Chiara Reuel—bring the art gallery project to life.
“The kids’ idea is to call the gallery the ‘GOTTA’—the Gallery of Teeny Tiny Art,” said Brooke Rothshank, who was previously awarded grant funding of her own to offer art classes for inmates at the Elkhart County Jail. “The gallery would be like a Little Free Library, but with an art display. The first opening of the gallery will be at Hometown Holiday—Downtown Goshen’s December First Fridays event. The kids are looking forward to it. They plan to have a donation jar available so that any proceeds can go to benefiting the Humane Society of Elkhart County.”
Not surprisingly, young Bryn and Linden—chips off the old block—take their chief inspiration from their artistic parents.
“I like to build Legos, play soccer, and swim,” said Linden, “and I love to work in my dad’s clay studio making clay foxes.”
“My favorite subject is art,” added Bryn. “I like to write, play with my pets, and paint in my mom’s painting studio.”
Kudos to Brooke and Justin for, clearly, setting good examples with each and every piece of art they produce. Congrats, Bryn and Linden!
Care for a spot of tea?
An Elkhart resident and mom, Jessica Redd, recently started a new business called the TeaCup Etiquettecy Academy. The purpose of the Academy is to help teach young Elkhart County residents how to feel comfortable in all sorts of social situations and confidently carry themselves in upscale dining and social situations.
Redd was recently approved for a $500 Little BIG Idea Grant award, and plans to use the funds to offer her first youth etiquette class on Oct. 18 at Elkhart’s Tolson Center.
“I’m a hard-working mother, and I believe in following my dreams and leaving a legacy behind for my children, and other people’s children as well,” she said. “I love to help others feel like they are just as important as anyone else, no matter their social status or background. With the etiquette class, my goal is to teach our young ones that they are welcome and can handle themselves in all rooms—no matter their social status, gender, or financial status. The kids are our future, and I know our young people are bright and ready to shine in this new world of opportunity and possibilities. They just need some help and assistance.”
In the etiquette class, participants will learn appropriate manners and utensil and cutlery etiquette so that they can feel comfortable in a wide range of social situations—from dinners or cocktail parties to public engagements.
According to Redd, the grant funds will be used to cover the costs of placemats, cutlery, dining ware, glassware, and other items needed to simulate a fine dining environment for class participants.
“I’m thankful for the grant award because this is important to me,” said Redd. “As someone with children, I want to help prepare our youth for success and help them learn how to present themselves confidently, with class. Kids want to feel like they belong. They want to feel like they’re being seen. I look forward to teaching them, and I’m thankful for the award from the grant program. It helps to remind me that I’m being seen, too.”
Bring YOUR BIG ideas to life!
Elkhart County residents of all ages are invited to apply for Little BIG Idea Grant funding. To apply for a Little BIG Idea Grant award, please visit https://vibrantelkhartcounty.org/lbig-application/.
Top: Linden and Bryn Rothshank (left), with Bryn’s friend, and event helper, Chiara Reuel (right). Middle: Goshen artist Brooke Rothshank—mother of Little BIG Idea Grant recipients Linden and Bryn Rothshank—with son, Linden. Bottom: Bryn and Chiara, working on their portable art gallery.
Elkhart resident and mom, Jessica Redd, was awarded Little BIG Idea Grant funding to organize her Oct. 18 etiquette class for Elkhart youth. Redd, who recently started her own business—the TeaCup Etiquettecy Academy, wants to teach the youth of Elkhart how to feel confident and comfortable in upscale dining and social situations.
