On Thursday, I sat at the Central Alabama Farmer’s Co-op for the Alabama Association of Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D)’s meeting to award grant money to well-deserving projects in our area.

If you’re like me and are just now learning about RC&D, they do a lot around the state and it is only as successful as the leaders that it helps fund.

“A significant accomplishment of RC&D is the rekindling of community spirit,” according to information presented at the grant awards ceremony. “There are so many ways to describe RC&D, but the heart of the program is people doing things for other people to improve the quality of life for fellow Alabamians.”

I think we have a lot of that going on in Dallas County.

To quote Sen. Malika Sanders-Fortier, D-Selma, there is a lot going on in our county and a lot of hard workers that want to keep our county strong.

From education purposes such as the Selma PAL After School Enrichment program to the Craig Fence Project to community efforts like the Mill Village Community Garden and Food Park there is a lot going on.

The projects awarded grants embody the essence of RC&D where local people identify the problems in their areas and identify opportunities and solutions to deal with them. Help from the government is, of course, a good thing.

Other projects that received assistance like the Youth Leadership Selma-Dallas County is another important project.

I may be a little bit biased being part of Leadership Class XXV but it truly teaches the participants everything there is to know about the place we live in.

John Solomon the President of the Board of Directors said the Youth Leadership program has actually encouraged younger people to remain the area.

Health programs like Doc in a bus and the Mobile Eye Clinic provide valuable healthcare to underserved and rural areas.

Recreational programs such as the summer art camp and the Camp Grist Enhancement Project will bring people to our area and the Dallas County Bicentennial and soon Selma Bicentennial will be reasons to celebrate as well.

The funding has been given to these projects now it is time for the recipients to do their part and continue working hard.

There’s a lot going on in our county by hard-working people that are leading the way.

They are making us “Dallas County strong”.