The grant requests received this year by the Alpena County Youth and Recreation Committee equal roughly double the amount of money the committee has to give.

That’s discouraging, and we hope those who don’t get money from the committee can find other sources of revenue to make their projects happen.

News staff writer Steve Schulwitz reported recently that the committee has about $500,000 to give from a fund filled by a countywide property tax. Requests received by the committee totaled more than $1 million, however.

Groups across the county asked for funds that would help complete a number of projects. Three requesters sought more than $100,000: for operations of Plaza Pool, for the revitalization of McRae Park on Alpena’s north side, and for the reconstruction of tennis courts and basketball courts at Bay View Park.

Nearly two dozen of the 38 requests sought more than $10,000, most in the $20,000 to $50,000 range.

We do not envy the committee members who have to sort through those requests and figure out which projects to fund. We know it’ll be difficult to say no to half the groups who need money for valuable projects.

We urge the committee to give to those projects that would serve the most people for the most amount of time so they can get the most bang for their buck.