Rockford’s cannabis tax to support growth of local organizations once again

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — City Council approved the Regrow Grant Program for the 2024-2025 year, allowing local organizations to apply for city funding for the second year in a row.

The program began last year , providing funds for 10 organizations in the forms of $10,000, $50,000 and $100,000. Of the recipients was Discovery Center Museum, who used its grant towards an educational program.

“We use the funds in 2023 for the STEM on the Rock program,” Director of Advancement Meredith MacKay said. “We partnered with the National Association of Black Engineers, Booker Washington Center and the YMCA to increase STEM interest and experience in minority middle school students.”

The museum was a $10,000 grant recipient and MacKay said it was enough to make an impact.

Students learned how to build water rockets, solo cup speakers, James Webb rockets, programming Ozobots, designing and building rollercoasters and more. 545 students participated in 33 sessions.

“It really gave them some really important early exposure to STEM fields that they will thrive in,” MacKay said. “These are really important change-making dollars in our community that we can directly reinvest in students and their success.”

This year, $500,000 will be granted. First Ward Alderman Tim Durkee said the funding comes from the city’s 3% local tax on adult-use recreational cannabis retail sales.

Durkee said the grant program is still fairly new, but it aims at supporting organizations that will have a positive impact on the community.

“We’re working with kids to prevent violence among the youth and other remedies in domestic violence as well as partners and communities that seem to have suffered from the influence of readily available drugs or harsh drug laws,” Durkee said. “That’s where that money is to be used.”

MaKay said the museum’s program was educational and effective and they’re hoping for a chance to do it again.

“This did so much good and was such an important program with STEM on the Rock,” MacKay said. “We will absolutely reapply for dollars.”

The application timeline has not yet been determined, but the projected start date for smaller grant programs is fall of 2024, with the larger grant programs expected to start January 1, 2025.

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