Hillsborough organizations are encouraged to apply for a township endorsed grant by the end of September.
Hillsborough Township Mayor Frank DelCore announced on Aug. 13 that the municipality’s Credit Card Advisory Committee will be accepting grant applications until Sept. 30 for the second round of grants for 2019.
To date, municipal officials said the Hillsborough Rewards Credit Card Program has awarded more than $85,000 in grants to community based non-profit organizations that serve township youths and seniors. The credit card program is at no cost to the taxpayers of Hillsborough and allows individuals or businesses to sign up for the special Hillsborough Township Rewards Visa Credit Card, according to officials.
The aim of the program is to give back a portion of every charge, in the form of grants, to nonprofit local youth and senior citizen groups as recommended by the Credit Card Advisory Committee and approved by the Hillsborough Township Committee.
“Applications will be made available on the township website or can be picked up in the administration office for any township based non-profit, senior or youth organizations to apply for grants up to $2,000 funded through the Hillsborough Rewards Credit Card Program,” DelCore said in a statement.
Hillsborough Township partnered with Affinity Federal Credit Union (AFCU) to offer a Hillsborough Rewards Visa Credit Card, administered through Affinity Federal Credit Union’s Hillsborough Branch. Similar to other reward-based cards, card users of the Hillsborough Rewards Visa Credit Card receive a point for every dollar spent, which they can then redeem at any future time for various reward options such as cash back, travel, gift cards, merchandise and more, according to officials.
The unique feature of the Hillsborough Rewards Visa Credit Card, through AFCU is that a percentage of the purchases (card usage) is returned to the Hillsborough Credit Card trust fund. Funds deposited to the trust fund are then distributed to various township non-profit senior citizen groups and youth organizations through the credit card grant application process. Officials said these grant opportunities are self-funded through the account and do not cost the taxpayers of Hillsborough any tax resource dollars.
Past recipients who completed the application process and were recommended by the Credit Card Advisory Committee based on the various criteria outlined in the application have included Boy Scout Troop 1776, who was awarded funds to purchase camping equipment including tents and kitchen supplies.
The Woodfern Home and School Association also received a grant to purchase digital cameras for fundraising.
The Hillsborough Rockettes & Rocket were able to purchase costume accessories with funds from the grant.
Other groups that have received funds are the Hillsborough HEAT baseball team and the Family YMCA. The HEAT baseball team received funds to purchase batting helmets and the YMCA was able to invest in aquatic swim equipment with the funds from the grant.
Officials said that completed applications must be submitted by Sept. 30 to the administration office to be considered for eligible grant funding.
For more information on the Affinity Hillsborough Rewards Visa Credit Card visit www.affinityfcu.com/credit-cards/hillsborough-rewards-visa.aspx, call the Member Service Center at 800-325-0808, or visit the Hillsborough Branch of Affinity Federal Credit Union.