You have $100,000 and you need to give it away.
Where is it going to go?
That’s what the Lathrop City Council will decide on Monday when they gather for their regularly scheduled March meeting and discuss, amongst other things, which local non-profits and outreach efforts deserve the more than $78,000 worth of community development block grant money as well as the $19,000 from the HOME program.
It’s ultimately up to the council to decide with community service organizations will be recipients of the funding. While there is no set structure for disbursement the decision has been made in the past go give certain non-profits that benefit the community directly more of a slice of the pie – like when last year they gave the Second Harvest Food Bank a $2,500 check while the majority of the rest of the money was equally distributed amongst those who asked for it.
But the money doesn’t all have to be given away.
According to requirements set by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the city may use of 85 percent of the funding for capital facilities projects and administrative costs.
And Lathrop City’s Staff wants to use that portion of the money – or at least a good part of it – to replace the existing bathrooms at Woodfield Park. With a price tag of $66,298, which includes the removal of the existing structure and the construction of a new one, one of the city’s premier parks would get a major overhaul. That cost represents 85 percent of the CDBG portion of the money that would be given away, leaving roughly the same amount of money in that fund that Lathrop had to give away last year – somewhere in the neighborhood of $12,000.
Second Harvest, which relies heavily on donations to make purchases from food distributors in order to feed hungry families and people in San Joaquin and Stanislaus Counties, is requesting $10,000 this year alone while the Boys and Girls Club of Manteca and Lathrop is asking for $4,000.
The City of Lathrop’s Youth Scholarship, which received the same amount last year as both the Boys and Girls Club and Manteca Youth Focus – $1,847.50 – is asking for a bump up to $4,500 this year.
The council can opt to give the money to any of the charities, which the options have typically centered around one receiving more than the others and an equal share being split amongst those who made requests. The decision will come after discussion and comments from representatives from any of the community groups that may be present during the meeting.

To contact reporter Jason Campbell email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com or call 209.249.3544.