Our donor-advised fundholders know that a large part of what we do at The Community Foundation is facilitating your grant requests and other philanthropic needs. Another aspect of what we are proud to do is facilitate partnerships between The Foundation's Grants Committee and donor-advised fundholders. One such story is that of FIRST Lego League.
In 2008, funds from The Community Foundation's Helen Bremer Westcott Memorial Fund supported start up and staff training costs for the FIRST LEGO League at SUNY Institute of Technology in Marcy. This program works with elementary school-aged children to build their science and math skills while bringing real life situations to their attention, focusing on problem solving and critical thinking. Just a short year and a half later, two teams had qualified for a national and an international LEGO League tournament. In continuing with Foundation support, Earle C. Reed granted travel costs to the New Hartford team that qualified for the national tournament in Atlanta in 2010, from his donor-advised fund, the Earle C. Reed Fund.
Earle Reed wrote of the grant "I was so impressed with the "engineering" work that the students were doing involving the Legos. Equally impressive was the poise that these young people were gaining as they presented their work and spoke with the judges. In addition, their work was the result of a true team effort. As a business person in this community, these are the skills and attitudes we need to encourage for our next generation of leaders."
To extend Earle's example, I would like to share a few grants that have recently been brought to the Grants Committee's attention:
· Adirondack Scenic Railroad for the purchase and refurbishing of two railroad cars.
· House of the Good Shepherd for their wellness program.
· Munson Williams Proctor Arts Institute for 75th Anniversary programs.
If you are interested in learning more about any of these programs or partnering with The Foundation on a grant, please contact Lara Sepanski at lsepanski@foundationhoc.org.
