A grant application process is now open to help fund Erie County America 250 PA celebrations. This comes 24 hours after reports that Harborcreek Township Supervisor Steve Oler, a key Erie County advisory committee member for America250 PA decided to resign.
Oler was appointed by former Erie County Executive Brenton Davis. Oler told Erie News Now that new County Executive Christina Vogel has been great and that the local PA250 committee is stacked with exceptional representatives from the region’s lead assets. That’s why he says he chafed at the idea the ECGRA, the Erie County Gaming Revenue Authority would be needed to manage distribution of these grants, a process he says adds an unnecessary layer.
None the less, that’s the grant distribution plan that is moving forward. ECGRA Executive Director Perry Wood met virtually on Wednesday with elected officials, their representatives and local 250PA committee members to make sure they understand the grant program guidelines. “We’re looking for events that celebrate the history, the rich, historic and cultural history of the country and specifically celebrating the 250th anniversary,” Wood said. “It could be an event, could be a program, could be a project, could be a physical historical marker, it could be an upgrade to a park, anything that commemorates the 250th anniversary of our nation,” he added.
Wood says a half-million-dollars are available to distribute for events, programs and commemorations that will celebrate the 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Half of the money was designated by Erie County government, half comes from gaming revenue funds.
Non-profits and government entities can apply for grants on ECGRA’s website in two tiers. “One tier is, are you a lead asset? If so you’re eligible for up to $25,000 in funding, tier 2 is the other organizations, smaller organizations, they’re eligible for up to $15,000 per event and you just simply need to certify who your organization is through our online grant-making system by visiting our website and filling out the grant application,” Wood explained.
The grants will be awarded monthly at ECGRA board meetings with the first grants likely to be announced at the April meeting. Some community leaders that Erie News Now spoke with said they are disappointed that this grant process is coming so late, but say there’s still time to make Erie’s America 250PA celebrations special.
ECGRA will be taking applications for Erie 250 grants through June 30th, for events and celebrations that take place throughout 2026.