The Route 66 Road Ahead Partnership announced the 10 latest grant awards from its Extraordinary Women Micro-Grants Program.
The 2024 round of the grant program was completed last month, with $2,000 awards to:
- Andrea Parson-Briley, Carterville, Missouri, for trolly renovations and a Route 66 mural at Supertam on 66. The project also seeks to provide extra seating for the small Route 66 ice cream parlor and Superman museum.
- Tansu Philip, San Bernardino, California, for Viva La Boba to help enhance the community’s access to high-quality coffee by buying a new espresso machine and installing outdoor misting equipment to help customers cool off on hot days.
- Carol Singer, Marshfield, Missouri, for the Singer Auto Parts employee safety project. Grant funds are earmarked to buy rubber pads to cushion the concrete floor, decreasing employee fatigue and lowering the chances of injury.
- Shawna Gentry, Victorville, California, for Emma Jean’s Holland Burger project. Her grant will help repair the restaurant’s facade, as well as restore and enhance planters that frame the building’s entrance.
- Karla Claus, Newberry Springs, California, for her Enjoy Route 66 Tours enhancement project. Claus plans to increase the profile of this tour business through new signage and providing folding chairs and a pop-up tent for customers.
- Rotchana & Tami Sussman, Arcadia, California, for the White Springs Cafe website redesign. Mother and daughter will update the online presence of their small Route 66 family restaurant.
- Angela Kirkman, Santa Fe, New Mexico, for the 1st Sunday Market at Tumbleroot Brewing LLC. The grant will support and expand this outdoor market on Route 66 by investing in marketing and promotion materials and adding music and entertainment.
- Nayomie Mendoza, Los Angeles, for a renovation project at Cuernavaca’s Grill. The grant will assist in buying new exterior signs and a new grill for the kitchen.
- Meghan Martinez, Albuquerque, for Manuel’s Food Market. Martinez plans to reconstruct the façade of this historic Route 66 store and upgrade its signs.
- Lucy Haro, Los Angeles, for the Qusqo Bakery community visibility and ccessibility Project. Outdoor signs will be enhanced by improved lighting and increased Americans with Disabilities Act accessibility at this neighborhood bakery.
The Route 66 Extraordinary Women Micro-Grant Program is funded in part by the Preserve Route 66 Grant Fund of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
In addition to direct fundraising efforts undertaken by the Road Ahead, the public may make
direct donations to the program here.
The Route 66 Extraordinary Women Micro-Grant Program provides critical and flexible funding to businesses and attractions along Route 66 that are majority women-owned or operated. The program is one in a series of “birthday gifts” to be given to Route 66 in the years leading up to the road’s centennial in 2026.
(Image of Emma Jean’s Holland Burger Cafe in Victorville, California, by Jimmy Emerson, DVM, via Flickr)