More than $2.4 million in CARES Act money was awarded to local organizations and businesses by Boone County commissioners Thursday.
The awards were made a day after the commission announced it had a plan to spend about $18 million in remaining federal CARES Act funding that had been allocated to the county. The money must be distributed or committed to a recipient by Dec. 30, or it goes back to the federal government. No details of that plan were made available Wednesday.
At Thursday’s commission meeting, only a portion of those remaining funds were allocated. The more than $2 million distributed was split between 12 organizations. The largest recipient was the UM System Board of Curators and MU Health Care. The UM System was reimbursed $2,123,000 for equipment purchased to test COVID-19 patients.
Chad Martin, director of the county’s Office of Emergency Management, said that was only 61.5% of the requested reimbursement. This is because Boone County residents made up about 61.5% of MU Health Care’s patients.
Coyote Hill Christian Children’s Home received a little more than $56,000 for high-speed Internet for students doing online education.
Other grants included:
- Cedar Creek Therapeutic Riding Center – $9,519.49.
- The Bluffs – $90,054.00. Job Point – $13,843.00.
- Lutheran Family and Children’s Services of Missouri – $940.00.
- Great Circle – $25,314.18.
- Alternative Community Training – $7,963.11.
- Love INC – $35,850.00.
- OATS, Inc. – $5,931.16.
- Compass Health, Inc. – $39,961.32.
- Columbia Farmers Market – $6,783.99.
Chris Mitchell of KOMU 8 contributed to this report.