Los Angeles, CA, Sept. 05, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Rumphius Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to strengthening community, promoting education and protecting the environment, is proud to announce that it has awarded grants to Lawrence County Community Action Partnership and Nevada Health Centers.
The Rumphius Foundation grant given to Lawrence County Community Action Partnership (LCCAP), a Pennsylvania-based organization dedicated to enhancing the quality of life in the region by eliminating and preventing the causes and effects of poverty, will support the transformation of an abandoned youth detention center. LCCAP is renovating the property that has been closed since 2013 to create a recreational and educational destination for the community, the first of its kind for the region. The new campus will include an education center for STE(A)M and training center for children with disabilities, an emergency disaster house, sports facilities, a greenhouse and an organic farm to create crops that will be sold and utilized within the programs on campus.
“One of our initial goals is to change the appearance of the property. Removing the barbed wire and chain link fencing,” said LCCAP Director of Community Development Cynthia Gormley. “To transform the property from a detention center to a welcoming community center, it is critical to create an open and beautiful entrance and surroundings. The Rumphius Foundation is making our beautification project possible. We are working with the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources on a plan that will create a beautiful landscape for people and wildlife. With the Rumphius grant we will plant trees along the entranceway, create gardens and eventually have a trail circling around the campus, welcoming the community in.”
The second 2018 Rumphius Foundation grant will help fund Nevada Health Centers’ dental care program for children who are homeless or live in low income, uninsured households. Nevada Health Centers (NVHC) is one of the largest providers of healthcare services in Nevada to low income, uninsured, underinsured, economically disadvantaged and geographically isolated children and adults. NVHC’s mission is to provide access to quality healthcare services throughout the state. The Rumphius grant will help provide preventive and restorative oral care as well as oral health education to children via their mobile dental program.
"We are so excited to be the recipient of the Rumphius Foundation grant to help fund care to our patients,” said Beverly Coleman, Nevada Health Foundation Executive Director. “With this generous grant, we will be able to provide children access to dental care and education through our Ronald McDonald Care Mobile. Our state has the challenge of being very geographically large. As a result, many small towns are far away from healthcare services. The Ronald McDonald Care Mobile serves the children living in these areas as well as greater Las Vegas by bringing access to important dental services right into their neighborhood. We so appreciate the Rumphius Foundation's support which will allow us to continue serving children across the state.”
“We know my husband Mike would have been proud of these grants and inspired by how each is making the world a more beautiful place, whether it’s through beautification of a communal space or giving children access to affordable care,” said Rumphius Foundation Director Candace Schuller. “We are thrilled that we can be part of these two organizations that are both transforming lives.”
The Rumphius Foundation makes grants annually and is currently seeking grant proposals for 2019. Grants are made for activities that conform to the mission of the foundation. Proposals for 2019 must be received by March 1, 2019. To submit grant proposals, and make donations please visit www.rumphiusfoundation.org.
About The Rumphius Foundation
Established in 2013 by the late Michael C. Schuller, The Rumphius Foundation is a non-profit organization held at a national public charity designed to help communities and educators strengthen the future of our young and the environment. Named after the children’s book Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney, in which the central character seeks to make the world a little more beautiful, the foundation provides grants to nonprofit projects that promote community, education and sustainability. Through these projects, the foundation strives to remind the next generation to leave the world more beautiful than they found it. For more information on The Rumphius Foundation, please visit www.rumphiusfoundation.org.