People representing local government, various nonprofits and community groups, historical societies and fire companies came out last week to learn how to improve their grant writing skills.

The Panther Valley Blueprint Community sponsored the three-hour workshop at St. Mary’s Orthodox Church in Coaldale recently, and more than 60 people signed up.

The Blueprint team, which will be working on bolstering the Panther Valley communities during the next decade, recognized the need for training on grant writing, goal writing and reports, said Joe Guardiani, one of the team members and organizers.

“We all felt that the communities could benefit,” he said.

Folks from Coaldale reached out to one of the workshop presenters, Linda Falcone from the Penn State Extension, and came back to the Blueprint team, which supported the workshop, he said.

The Blueprint team, which has representatives from throughout Coaldale, Nesquehoning, Lansford and Summit Hill, had its members reach out through their networks to get the word out to community groups that might be interested.

“That’s why we have such a great turnout today,” Guardiani said, saying it was a good example of communities working together.

Partnering with other communities or groups on grants was one of the tips that Falcone offered during her presentation.

Many grants or groups offering funding favor small communities or organizations working together on projects, and it was as simple as asking another group if they’d like to go in on a grant, she said.

Falcone talked about different sources for grants, and the organizations that sponsor them. Talking to the funders will often give those writing grants information to help make their grant successful, she said.

Falcone suggested groups have an “elevator speech,” or a clear, concise pitch ready to introduce their group and project or need, if they get the opportunity to talk to business or foundation offering funds.

She also offered suggestions on where to look for grant opportunities, and noted that she spends 15 minutes a day looking for new grants from different sites and subscriptions.

Another presenter was Christine Verdier, chief of staff for state Sen. David Argall, who was talking about government grants that are available to communities. She also brought booklets with grant opportunities for participants.

Sharon Alexander, executive director of the Carbon County Community Foundation, was also on tap to present, Guardiani said.

He said that she works with groups and people who fund grants, but also works with groups in the community that might align with that funding.

One of the participants, Kathy Gieniec, president of the Summit Hill Recreation Commission, said she wanted to learn the basics of grant writing.

“People talk about grants, but how do you really know how to apply for grant?” she said. “It’s not common knowledge. You have to take a class for it. What is a grant? Where do you get them? How do you apply?”

Gieniec was spurred by the need for more playground equipment in Summit Hill, but when she started looking, she realized swing sets and other play sets weren’t cheap.

“We had no idea how expensive they were, and everyone started talking about grants,” Gieniec said, but she need to learn more about how to find and secure the funding which brought her to the workshop.

Another participant, Gwyneth Collevechio, said she came wearing two hats: as a Lansford Borough councilwoman and also as treasurer of Friends of Lansford Recreation.

She wants to help the borough with its grant writing efforts, as well as help fund recreation projects.

The borough is currently applying for a gaming grant for one of its playgrounds, Ashton Park, which includes new handicapped accessible rides and entry ramps as well as new fencing, Collevechio said.

“We have the whole area where the Lansford pool was, which is just a torn up mess,” she said. “We want to get some grant money so that we can rebuild that place and that we can have place for the kids to go in the summer, on the weekends, and have picnics, music and dances.”

Collevechio also pointed out that the borough needs to build a new borough garage, and has a train station that needs renovations.

“We’re always looking for grants to improve,” she said.