FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - JULY 1, 2010
Contact:
Sue Lin Chong / (410) 223-2836 / schong@aecf.org
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The Annie E. Casey Foundation Announces its 2010 Direct Service Grant Winners
13 Local Nonprofits Awarded Grants to Support Programs for Baltimore Kids
Baltimore, Md. - The Annie E. Casey Foundation is pleased to announce the recipients of its 2010 Baltimore Direct Service Grant program. This year, 13 local direct service organizations providing summer activities for Baltimore City youth will be awarded up to $20,000 to support their programs.
Beginning July 1, the Casey Foundation will award a total of $200,000 to the 2010 Baltimore Direct Service Grant recipients, whose programs will impact the lives of more than 2,200 disadvantaged Baltimore City youth. The funded programs will support academic and cultural enrichment, life skills, and workforce development, as well as an appreciation for community and nature.
“The summer months are important for youth to continue learning and stay engaged in the Baltimore community,” said Tony Cipollone, vice president of Civic Sites and Initiatives for the Casey Foundation. “The. Casey Foundation is proud to continue supporting organizations working to make a real difference in the lives of kids and families this summer.”
The 2010 Baltimore Direct Service Grant winners include: Bluford Drew Jemison STEM Academy, for a five week summer learning program that will instill a passion for learning in science, technology, engineering, and math in local 6th-8th graders; Community Law in Action, for a five week comprehensive summer program focusing on literacy development, personal and professional life skills activities, and advocacy and community service skills for 40 students with a history of involvement with the Department of Juvenile Services and Department of Social Services; and Friends of Our Playground Stadium Place, to provide summer service learning opportunities and a year’s scholarship to the YMCA for 15 middle school youth.
Previous grant recipients include the Oliver Community Association, for a youth business center that helped young people develop communications, marketing, and other business skills; Junior Achievement of Central Maryland, Inc., to provide economic and financial literacy education to Baltimore City fifth graders attending Title One Schools; and Art on Purpose Incorporated, to support an ongoing art workshop and youth leadership program at the Baltimore Freedom Academy.
The Casey Foundation’s Baltimore Direct Services Grants program began in 1995 and has since contributed over $10 million in support of a wide range of innovative ideas and practices conducted by groups that represent many areas of the city.
“Now in our second decade, the Baltimore Direct Service Grants program has allowed us to provide millions of dollars to local organizations that work closely with children and families in our neighborhoods,” said Scot Spencer, manager of Baltimore Relations, at the Casey Foundation. “We are inspired by the work that past grantees and these new grantees do every day to make a positive impact on Baltimore.”
The Casey Foundation’s 2010 Baltimore Direct Services Grants Program recipients are:
Access Art (410-368-5800)
Project: A five week summer arts camp for 22 middle and high school youth to engage in ongoing photography lessons that will allow them to express their individual identity and to create two public murals that will beautify the Morrell Park community.
Audubon Maryland – Patterson Park (http://pattersonpark.audubon.org)
Project: Patterson Park Audubon Center’s eight-week summer program that will provide 950 participants access to 45 programs focused on active, educational, outdoor-based nature programs.
Baltimore Algebra Project (www.baltimore-algebra-project.org)
Project: Expansion of its summer program by partnering with Morgan State University’s Camp ELEVATE to provide a sports/math camp, operated entirely by youth. The program will serve 150 youth between the ages of 9-24 over five weeks by creating positive peer cultures around math achievement.
Baltimore Shakespeare Festival (www.baltimoreshakespeare.org)
Project: Full scholarships to 10 students between the ages of 11-14 to spend two weeks creating an abridged production of a Shakespeare play, culminating in a performance for an invited audience of family and friends.
Bluford Drew Jemison STEM Academy (www.bdjacademy.org)
Project: A five-week summer learning program for up to 150 6th – 8th graders that will instill a passion for learning science, technology, engineering, and math.
Community Law in Action (www.communitylawinaction.org)
Project: A five-week, comprehensive summer program for 40 students currently attending Diploma Plus’ two Baltimore area schools and who have a history of involvement with the Department of Juvenile Services and Department of Social Services. The program will focus on literacy development, personal and professional life skills activities, and advocacy and community service skills.
Friends of Our Playground Stadium Place (www.stadiumplayground.org)
Project: Summer service learning opportunities and a year’s scholarship to the YMCA for 15 middle school youth.
Higher Achievement (www.higherachievement.org)
Project: The Summer Academy at the West Baltimore Achievement Center to provide 90 underserved middle school students with 250 hours of academic enrichment and cultural learning opportunities.
Learning, Inc. – Operation Safe Kids (www.learninginc.org)
(www.baltimorehealth.org/operationsafekids.html)
Project: A six-week summer credit recovery and youth development program for 15 youth between the ages of 16-18 that will receive academic instruction, service learning, conflict resolution, and job skills training.
Outward Bound Baltimore Chesapeake Bay Center (www.outwardboundbaltimore.org)
Project: Character building, team building, and leadership development skills courses to more than 500 youth 12-17 years of age.
Patapsco Recreation Center in Cherry Hill (www.cherryhillnet.org/patapsco)
Project: Recreational, educational, and economic opportunities and relief to more than 100 children in the Cherry Hill community for seven weeks.
St. Ignatius Loyola Academy (www.saintignatius.org)
Project: A two-week residential summer camp that instills habits for a healthy lifestyle for 40 rising 7th and 8th graders and a four-week summer bridge program that focuses on reading, writing, math, and research skills for 26 6th-8th graders.
Wide Angle Youth Media (www.wideanglemedia.org)
Project: Provide staff and program support to train and mentor 10 Youth Producers between the ages of 14-20, who will in turn serve 120 youth who will create 12 media projects supporting educational goals and community concerns.
The Annie E. Casey Foundation, based in Baltimore, is a private charitable organization dedicated to helping build better futures for disadvantaged children in the United States. For more information about the Annie E. Casey Foundation, please contact Sue Lin Chong at (410) 223-2836.
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