Lowe’s Hometown comes out to support The Gil Carter Initiative

TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) - Erma Forbes and Lowes Hometowns Project have teamed up to remember Gil Carter.

Erma Forbes, founder of the Gil Carter Initiative, has been working on renovations for the last 5 years to a former detention center in southeast Topeka.

Forbes says the new Gil Carter Learning Academy will have cooking, tech and music classes for kids of all ages.

“Since he mentored a lot with young children and adults, I decided to do an educational facility,” said Forbes.

She recently got some help from the Lowe’s Hometown Project, where she acquired a $150,000 grant.

Lowe’s assistant manager, Scott Jamison, helped Forbes acquire the grant.

“I knew about the [Lowe’s] Hometown Projects and that we had grant money available,” Jamison said. “I advised her of that and she sent me a nice letter of what they are doing here and I submitted that to our corporate office and they provided her a grant.”

Construction is expected to be completed by Halloween.

Find ways to volunteer or donate at their site.

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