Press Release for Grant Awards 2025

The V.J. Wilkins Foundation, a private, not-for-profit Foundation, recently awarded grant monies totaling $559,413.50 for applications received in 2025.

Since inception in 2014, the Foundation has awarded gifts exceeding $5.6 million dollars to the community of Arkansas City.

The Foundation’s Mission is to assist the community of Arkansas City and Cowley County, Kansas in providing a quality cultural environment of Arts, Music, Language and other endeavors.

Recipients for 2025 include:

• Arkansas City Area Arts Council/Burford Theatre Arts
• Arkansas City Area Chamber of Commerce in collaboration with Cowley College Art Dept.
• Arkansas City Community Band
• Arkansas City High School Marching Band trip to Washington, D.C. in 2026
• Arkansas City Public Library
• Chaplin Nature Center
• Cowley College Foundation- Cowley Children’s Choir & Instruments
• Eagle Nest Maker Space
• Greater Grace Ministries/Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration
• Kansas Big Brothers Big Sisters fine arts attendance scholarships
• Legacy, a Regional Community Foundation for the Dolly Parton Imagination Library
• Marquee Theatre’s Summer Youth Production
• Merchants in Motion Entertainment for Community Events
• Music Theatre Wichita’s Ark City Theater Camp for local youth at the Burford Theatre
• SCK Health Foundation
• South Kansas Symphony
• Tacolalah Festival musicians and performers
• USD 470- ACHS Choir, Elementary Music Program, ACMS Musical, ACHS Theater
• USD 471 Dexter Arts & Entertainment Stage
• Walnut Valley Quilt Guild Sewing Camp
• Wichita State University Foundation’s Interactive Virtual Reality project of Etzanoa
• Winfield Public Library

The current Board of Trustees for the Foundation includes James Wilkins and David Wilkins, both of Denver, and Karen Zeller, Jennifer Munson, and Tasha Bucher, all of Arkansas City.

Additional information can be obtained on the Foundation’s Website: www.vjwilkinsfoundation.com. The deadline for 2026 grant applications is August 1, 2026.