Canal Market District receives grant from OSU class
NEWARK- When Ohio State University-Newark student Lenise Sunnenberg was working on a project for one of her classes during the fall, she knew there was more at stake than just her grade.
Sunnenberg and her classmates were writing grant proposals on behalf of local organizations such as the United Way of Licking County and Weathervane Theater.
But instead of students just receiving a letter grade for their efforts, the organization featured in the best proposal would receive a $250 grant.
“It seems like when we’re working on this project, because there’s actual money at stake and someone’s actually going to benefit from it, you know there’s a different weight to that than just a regular assignment,” Sunnenberg said.
Sunnenberg’s proposal for the Canal Market District was selected by her peers as the best proposal in the class.
The project was part of Elizabeth Weiser’s cultures of professional writing course.
“I think it’s really helpful for the students and it’s just really nice to be able to say to some organization, ‘You’ve won a small grant. You can do anything with it,’” Weiser said.
The money will be used by the Thomas J. Evan Foundation, which is overseeing the market district, to prepare promotional materials about the market district and to educate the community about how government assistance programs, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, can be used at the market, said Jennifer Roberts, administrative director for the foundation.
For example, shoppers can purchase food at the market with government assistance once the market district opens later this year, Roberts said.
She added that because the market is just opening this year, it’s important the foundation take time to educate the public about all its possibilities.
“This is a really exciting thing because there aren’t any markets in Licking County that are SNAP certified or accept SNAP benefits,” Roberts said. “It’s a key piece to providing access to local, fresh food for our community.”
Roberts said it was important to the foundation that government assistance programs are accepted at the market district.
“We believe it’s a market for the Newark community,” she said. “While we want to draw customers from the entire region, we want to ensure that local residents have access to fresh food.”
As part of her studies, Sunnenberg will actually work with the foundation as an intern for the next few months and will create the promotional materials.
The market district’s plaza, which will hold all the vendor stalls, is under construction between Canal, Market, Second and Third streets. The market district’s director, Bryn Bird, along with the assistance of an advisory committee, is reviewing more than 30 vendor application to select vendors that either grow or source their products locally in an effort to promote the local agriculture, Roberts said.
The committee is working to make sure there is a good balance of produce, meats, cheese and baked goods so the market can “serve this community in a way that makes sense,” Roberts said.
Maria DeVito, reporter