By Joe Bachman

The city will donate $5,000 dollars to the North Central Community Action Program (NCCAP) for The Local Crowd Project.

NCCAP helps low-income families by offering improvement to energy efficiency in their homes, job creation, skill-building through adult education, and much more. The Local Crowd Project is an innovative crowdfunding tool for rural communities that can break down barriers to capital and stimulate localism.

It will utilize crowdfunding techniques to help low-income families through mediums such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo. According to the NCCAP, crowdfunding companies have been shown to increase revenue and promote job growth in locally owned businesses.

This project is expected to increase the support of individuals to reduce poverty and become self-sustaining. The Finance and Property Committee approved the donation on Tuesday night.

“I think there is true potential and success, whether it’s vacant storefronts with willing businesses, or the many business ideas that are always floating around.” said Mayor Zach Vruwink.