Six Eastern Iowa rural organizations are the recipients of $24,258 in grants as part of UnityPoint Health – St. Luke’s Foundation’s Rural Healthcare Grant Program.
This program began in 1980 and since it started more than 200 grants totaling $470,000 to support emergency medical and transportation services in Benton, Cedar, Delaware, Iowa, northern Johnson, Jones and Linn counties has been awarded.
In the early 1980s, Iowa was in a “farm crisis” with real estate values plummeting, farm foreclosures and an overall sense of uncertainty. St. Luke’s Foundation’s Board of Directors recognized this put a strain on small rural communities, especially their Emergency Medical Services. The Foundation’s idea was to award small grants to rural Emergency Medical Service organizations to help them purchase equipment and provide funding for training/education. In the first year, the Foundation awarded three grants for $2,050.
“We are extremely proud of this program,” said Mary Klinger, president of St. Luke’s Foundation. “We continue to understand how hard it is for many of these volunteer-led organizations to have the financial support they need to operate. These grants allow these organizations to obtain state-of-the-art equipment and/or provide a non-emergency transportation program for their community.”
This is the seventh year where, Central Iowa Power Cooperative (CIPCO) and CoBank made a $7,500 donation to St. Luke’s Foundation in support of this program. CIPCO is Iowa’s largest cooperative energy provider since 1946. They serve a nearly 300,000 rural and urban residents and approximately 12,000 commercial and industrial accounts.
“CIPCO is proud of our partnership with St. Luke’s in helping rural agencies serve their communities,” said Kerry Koonce, Manager of External Affairs for CIPCO. “With commitment to community being one of our core values, this program fits our vision. Many of the communities that will receive funding are within our member cooperatives service territory.”
“Our Rural Healthcare Grant Program has been able to continue and grow due to the generosity of our donors,” said Klinger. “From annual donations to endowments, we have been blessed to have community support for 40 years, which has allowed us to increase our funding to meet the growing needs of the rural organizations. We are committed to this program for the next 40+ years.”
The 2022 St. Luke’s Foundation’s Rural Healthcare Grant Program recipients are:

• Benton County Volunteer Program to fund transportation expenses for volunteer drivers.
• Blairstown Volunteer Ambulance Service to support the purchase of one Cardiac Monitor and IV Pump
• Elberon Fire & Rescue Association to support the purchase of one Power Cot Lift System.
• Jefferson-Monroe Fire Department to purchase one LIFEPAK 1000 AED.
• Jones County Volunteer Center to fund transportation expenses for volunteer drivers.
• Lisbon Fire Fighter’s Association to support the LUCAS Device Project.

Community members can help support St. Luke’s Rural Healthcare Grant Program by giving contributions of any amount. Additional gifts build the endowment and helps fund even more rural healthcare needs.