With a heart for his community and a passion for making a difference in the youth of Henry County, Travis Banta poured his energy into volunteering and spending time with kids and teens.
While a chronic illness had hindered Travis’s ability to maintain a full-time job, it did not deter him from investing in the lives of Henry County’s youth.
Travis worked as the part-time maintenance director at Agape Learning Center, often taking time out of his day to get to know the kids who walked through the halls.
When he was not working on the school grounds, Travis could be found playing basketball with kids, spending time with middle school students at Wyld Life Ministries, volunteering in DIVE after-school programs, counseling at church camps, and in many other ways showing kids in the community the love of God.
Tragically, Travis passed away suddenly at the age of 45.
“Travis was involved in everything, especially when it involved the next generation,” shared Agape Learning Center board member Jim Becker. “Travis had a way of making every person feel seen and cared about.”
When it came time for some needed renovations to the Agape gym, those involved in the planning knew the right name and right legacy to inspire the project, the Travis Banta Gymnasium.
Looking to create a space for the next generation of Henry County kids, they wanted it to be clean, fun, and engaging. Beyond school activities, they wanted it to be a space the community could use for family nights, pickleball, basketball, volleyball, and more.
While they were able to raise funding on their own from generous donors and community members for the first phase of the project, they were concerned about securing funding for the second phase. They decided to participate in a grant cycle at the Henry County Community Foundation.
Through a Choose Henry Flex Fund grant, they completed phase two, which allowed them to purchase two new lunch tables, preschool basketball hoops, a floor scrubber, pickleball nets, a volleyball set, and acoustic panels to help dampen sound. They also installed a rock wall, a slide, and new carpet in the loft space.
Those sound-dampening panels, in particular, have made a noticeable difference in how the space is used every day.
“The grant money used to purchase the sound-dampening panels has greatly helped Agape,” shared Megan Watters, Director of Agape Learning Center. “We have students who would struggle in the gym just because it was so loud. Now, we can have several groups of kids in the gym at the same time without it being overwhelmingly loud.”
That impact extends beyond the school day.
“Agape’ recently held a Family Night,” Megan said. “We had three inflatables going at the same time with 60 to 70 people in the gym, and you could still hear and talk with the person next to you perfectly. It made communicating with kids and parents very easy. We are very grateful for the grant that helped make the gym a better place for our students.”
In addition to serving kids from infancy through kindergarten at Agape Learning Center, they are making great use of the space for the community. Local nonprofit Victory Lane, committed to building a community of people from diverse backgrounds and abilities, has been able to meet for its monthly family night in the gym.Pleased with the updates and thankful for the help from the Foundation, Jim expressed, “Travis would have loved it! Two months before he passed, he pulled me aside and said, ‘Don’t ever stop reaching the kids.’ We’ve held on to that and want this to be a place that speaks to the value that youth and kids bring to our community. We hope everyone can use this space, and we’re grateful to the Foundation for helping Agape make this possible. We couldn’t have done it without the grant.”
The Choose Henry Flex Fund is a pooled endowment fund that reaches the county in many ways through its annual grant cycles. Donors to Choose Henry are contributing to community projects like the Travis Banta Gymnasium, creating a lasting, impactful space in Henry County for generations to enjoy.