A letter from the state to Van Go Mobile Arts Inc. may be suitable for framing.

The Kansas Department of Commerce informed the nonprofit organization at 715 N.J. that it was awarded a $245,000 community service tax credit, which will be used as a major tool in raising funds.

Anyone who contributes to the group can now receive a 50 percent tax credit.

“This will allow us to raise $490,000 in actual money, because for every dollar we raise we are able to give the donor back 50 cents in tax credits,” said Lynne Green, executive director of Van Go Mobile.

“To say we are elated is an understatement,” she said.

Green and Heather Hoy, development director for Van Go Mobile who wrote the application for the tax credit, said the organization planned to purchase and renovate its building to expand services to better serve the community.

Van Go Mobile is an after-school and summer-time program that employs young people from low-income backgrounds to work on art projects, many of which are on public display, such as benches and newspaper racks. Some of the art is sold in galleries. The group pays the artists minimum wage and also teaches them job and life skills.

Its annual budget is about $300,000, Green said.

The size of the tax credit was tied for first with a therapeutic child-care program in Wichita out of 26 awards announced by the Commerce Department.

Once the Van Go Mobile site is expanded and renovated with the donated money, Green and Hoy said the organization would like to start a program for youths interested in applied arts, such as graphic design and woodworking.