Grant money being awarded for fourth consecutive year.

The Kitsap Public Facilities District (KPFD) is awarding grants from its EventFund program to support and help organizations hold and conduct athletic tournaments and events at facilities funded in large part by KPFD, including the Kitsap County Fairgrounds and Events Center.

A total of $20,000 is available for grants to qualified event organizers, primarily to market events and draw more teams, spectators and fans from outside Kitsap County. Individual grants from $1,000 to $5,000 are available in each of the two award periods.

The grants are awarded twice per year, in January and in June. Awards are made after presentations by the organizations at the KPFD board meeting following the deadline.

The first deadline for submitting grant applications is Tuesday, Jan. 6. The second deadline, for events in the latter half of the year, is June 5.

KPFD is an independent municipal corporation managing Washington state sales tax rebate funds allocated to Kitsap County. It acts as a catalyst for creating livable and active communities in Kitsap County through construction or renovation of recreation and sports facilities and is guided by four goals: economic development; efficient use of public and private monies; innovation; and multiple uses of facilities.

KPFD was the primary funding source for the Kitsap Conference Center at Bremerton Harborside and a catalyst for the regeneration of the Downtown Bremerton area. It also was the primary source of funds for the renovation and upgrade of the Fairgrounds Event Center complex to a “tournament quality” facility, bringing many new tournaments and events to Kitsap County.

For more information, contact Mike Walton at (360) 698-1885.

Additional information is also available online. Go to http://www.kitsap-pfd.org/ and click “EventFund.”