29 Aug 2015 Alread Community Resource to mark 25th anniversary

Alread Community Resource Development Corporation is celebrating its 25th anniversary as an Arkansas non-profit organization on Saturday, Sept. 19, at the Alread FUN Park.

The Van Buren County group’s mission is to promote the general wellbeing of the residents of this rural community and surrounding areas. ACRDC is a resource community members can use when applying for grants to make improvements to this economically depressed area.

In September, ACRDC organizes a Fall Benefit Concert at the FUN Park. The park was built in 2001 through a “Facilities for Underdeveloped Neighborhoods” grant and was matched with volunteer labor.

Proceeds are used for park utilities, upkeep of the grounds and equipment and for the Iris Derow Scholarship. The concert has live music with some local talent performing each year.  There is a salsa contest, a horseshoe tournament, food vendors, arts and craft vendors and a bounce house for children. This year, there will also be a booth dedicated to the celebration of the organization’s 25th anniversary.  

This year’s event is planned Saturday, Sept. 19, with music 2 to 11 p.m.

In 2015, the Alread community received a grant from Arkansas Department of Rural Services to make improvements to the FUN Park, located at 20501 Highway 16, west of Clinton. The grant was matched dollar for dollar by community volunteers for labor and equipment and materials used for the project. Volunteers have reworked the flower beds and replaced the rubber mulch in the children’s playground area. The grant paid for the rubber mulch and for resurfacing the tennis court/basketball court area.

The Van Buren County Sheriff’s Department Work Release Program allowed workers to paint and stain the pavilion and the picnic tables. Alread Extension Homemakers provided lunch for them and other volunteers. The grant will also pay for a new horseshoe pit.  
A grant to “Jump Start Technology” for $145,000 was received from the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation in 2000 and split between the Witts Springs School District and the Alread School District to buy computer equipment and to teach adults and students how to use the computers.  Many donations were made by ACRDC to student organizations at these schools until they were both consolidated in 2006.  Today, ACRDC still offers the Iris Derow Scholarship available to members of ACRDC and their immediate families.   

For more information, contact Fran d’Orsay at [email protected] or call 501.745.8615.