This year the Annual Bob Noss Teachers Grant luncheon was held on October 23rd, 2024 at the Smyrna Yacht Club. We hosted 75 teachers, administrators and Kiwanis members. We were honored to present grant money totaling $25,000 to 56 teachers from 11 different schools. It is estimated that these funds will help support projects that will inspire 14,000 kids in the community not only for this years but years to come.
​​In 1993 Bob Noss, a SouthEast Volusia Kiwanis member, recognized the need to help teachers in our community. When teachers dream up fun and educational activities for their students, they often dig into their own pockets to finance these projects. Sometimes their ideas go unfunded and projects are left on the drawing board.
 
Understanding that funding a teacher levers our ability to improve the educational experience for our children, Bob enlisted our Kiwanis club to fund a Grant program to help the teachers and kids in our community.  Bob Noss passed away several years later and we have continued the program in his memory. Bob's widow, Rachel Noss, continues to serve on our committee. We host all of the Grant winners and their school principals at a luncheon when we present the awards. It's hard to say who is smiling more at our luncheon, the teachers or our club members.
 
This program continues to thrive and grow. Over the last five years we spent almost $60,000 on our teachers. We feel so strongly about this program that we spend about 40% of the club's Giving program on this one project. But we still have to prioritize and can't fund all of the Grant applications within our budget. If you would like to donate to this effort, and help us support the teachers who educate our children, please click on the DONATE button located on this page.

For a Grant to be awarded, we look at:

• Number of students who will benefit,
• Size of the request,
• Fairness among schools participating.

All schools in SouthEast Volusia - public, private and charter - are eligible to submit Grants, and generally all will receive Grants.

Committee Chair - Pam Crawford
Special Advisors - Fred Baker   
- Bruce Henry