Community Health received a $100,000 grant to fund the Community Statewide Health Improvement Program in Mower County from Nov. 1, 2013 to Nov. 1, 2014.

“We are pretty pleased about that,” Kocer said.

After funding for the program was significantly reduced a few years ago, the Minnesota Department of Health received $35 million to reinstate the program’s activities during the next state biennium.

SHIP aims to create healthy parents, children and communities by promoting healthy behaviors. For example, SHIP programs often focus on tobacco cessation, healthy eating and healthy activities.

In 2010 and 2011, $161,480 was spent on community projects in Mower County through SHIP. The program’s funds have previously been used to buy snack carts featuring healthy food at elementary schools, to purchase no smoking signs after Riverland Community College went smoke-free, to place bike racks at 12 sites and to help support Hy-Vee’s Sprout: Get Out and Grow.