MASON CITY – Mason City received a $50,000 grant from T-Mobile for its planned “beautification project” of a riverwalk in downtown.
T-Mobile revealed the names of 25 American small towns that will receive Hometown Grants to jumpstart vital community projects, and Mason City was on the list, the only city in Iowa to get the grant in this round. There was a photo-op at a recent city council meeting to relay the announcement.
The grant will be spent on the town’s “massive town beautification project including completion of an all-inclusive river walk.”
“Thank you T-Mobile for choosing Mason City as one of your #HometownGrant recipients,” the City said in a released statement today. “We’re excited that you have made this commitment to our amazing community! This generous investment of $50,000 will make a huge difference for Mason City’s beautification project including completion of an all-inclusive river walk.”
Created to help local communities move forward on projects that build on the strengths that have always made them great places to live and work, Hometown Grants are inspired by the unique sense of place and deep pride that is so much a part of every small town.
“All of us at T-Mobile are so proud to support small towns with Hometown Grants,” said Jon Freier, President, Consumer Group at T-Mobile. “From revitalizing a historic theater to creating an arts and innovation incubator, building new parks, renovating a shelter for abused women and their children, and so much more, the first 25 Hometown Grant winners embarked on amazing and important projects that will bring long-lasting benefits to the citizens of their towns. We’re excited to see how the next 25 towns use Hometown Grants to improve their communities.”
To select Hometown Grant recipients, T-Mobile worked with Main Street America and Smart Growth America, two organizations that have decades of experience helping build stronger, more prosperous small towns and rural communities. Together, they considered applications from small towns based on level of detail and completeness, potential community impact, project viability and other factors.
T-Mobile will announce new Hometown Grant recipients on a quarterly basis — every town in America that has a population of fewer than 50,000 people and a vision for how to make their community even stronger than it is today is encouraged to apply.
“Let’s polish the turd until it shines!”