08/27/2010 9:51 AM -
JAGUARS FOUNDATION AWARDS $764,000 IN GRANTS TO LOCAL YOUTH-SERVING AGENCIES
Contact: Peter Racine
Executive Director, Jaguars Foundation
Phone: 904.633.6216
The Jaguars Foundation Board announced the awarding of $764,000 in its first grant cycle of 2010 to 27 local nonprofit organizations serving economically and socially disadvantaged children and families in Northeast Florida.
Under the leadership of Delores Barr Weaver, Jaguars Foundation Chair and CEO, the Foundation’s total grant giving since 1995 is more than $13.6 million for youth-serving programs in the Jacksonville area, which includes Duval, Baker, Clay, Nassau, and St. Johns counties. This level of giving is among the top few of professional sports teams.
“Our dream of the Jaguars Foundation began even before Jacksonville was awarded the 30th NFL franchise in 1993, and we awarded our first grants before the team played its first game in 1995,” Weaver remarked. “I am proud of the Jaguars partners for making a million dollar commitment annually to support the Foundation’s grant making and other important programs for youth and their families.” Unlike most professional sports teams, the Jaguars Foundation does not solicit contributions nor hold fundraising events.
The following general program grants were awarded in 2010 Cycle One:
· Boys & Girls Clubs of Northeast Florida $27,000. Youth programs at the Woodland Acres Boys & Girls Club in Arlington.
· Bridge of Northeast Florida $50,000. Support of the Weaver Zone Teen Connection year-round academic, enrichment, job skills and employment program.
· Communities in Schools of Jacksonville $35,000. Youth dropout prevention/literacy enhancement program in multiple public school sites.
· Communities in Schools of Nassau $35,000. Dropout prevention program (grades 6-12).
· DLC Nurse & Nurse $25,000. Support for low-income working families for child care for infants and children with disabilities and medical problems in an inclusion center.
· Duval County 4-H $20,000. Multi-site 4-H Junior Master Gardening Program.
· EPIC Community Services (American Legion Post 194) $15,000. After-school academic enrichment program for 25 elementary school students from West St. Augustine neighborhoods.
· Florida State College at Jacksonville Foundation $7,000. Careers and Karate after-school youth development recreation and mentoring program at downtown campus.
· Fresh Ministries $20,000. Eastside Center’s youth program and summer employment program.
· Hubbard House $36,000. Helping at Risk Kids (HARK) program.
· LISC $35,000. Revitalization of distressed low-income neighborhoods with a major northside initiative.
· MaliVai Washington Kids Foundation $25,000. After-school teen program (college/career preparation and tennis).
· Sanctuary on 8th Street $30,000. After-school and summer camp for low-income children in Springfield.
· St. Gerard Campus $25,000. Licensed daycare service for students at St. Gerard High School in St. Augustine who have infants and toddlers.
· Trinity Lutheran Church (Children Enrichment Workshops) $10,000. After-school enrichment program for elementary children in Riverside.
· YMCA Florida’s First Coast $25,000. Baker County YMCA Sanderson Teen Center.
· Art with a Heart for Children $15,000. Arts in Healing program at Wolfson Children’s Hospital and Nemours Children’s Clinic.
· Jacksonville Children’s Chorus $20,000. Scholarship funding for chorus singers from low-income families.
· OneJax $25,000. Diversity education learning lab including the 4-day MetroTown intensive institute program and the LOUD year-round program.
· Voice for Children of the First Coast Inc $15,000. Guardian Ad Litem volunteer recruitment initiative.
The following Straight Talk Grants in partnership with the Weaver Family Foundation were awarded (each Foundation provides half of the funding) for comprehensive educational programs to help prevent teen pregnancy and the spread of HIV-AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections among teens:
· Apel Health Services Center, Inc. at Abyssinia Baptist Church $20,000. Peer Mentoring and HIV/AIDS prevention program.
· The Bridge of Northeast Florida $48,000. Straight Talk.
· Girls, Inc. $40,000. Preventing Adolescent Pregnancy.
· PACE Center for Girls Jacksonville, $35,000. Time To be a Girl.
The following Youth Anti-Obesity Grants, in partnership with Baptist Health/Wolfson Children’s Hospital were awarded (each organization provides half of the funding), to five non-profits to prevent childhood obesity and promote healthy lifestyle choices, through increasing physical activity and better nutrition:
· Community Connection of Jacksonville $37,000. A. L. Lewis Center’s childhood obesity prevention program.
· Gateway Community Services, Inc. $12,000. Health and nutrition program for youth seeking recovery from substance abuse.
· Girls on the Run of Northeast Florida, Inc. $30,000. After-school healthy living and running program.
· Metro Kids Konnection $22,000. After-school program at Cleveland Arms Apartments emphasizing nutrition and physical exercise.
· PACE Center for Girls Jacksonville $25,000. Youth obesity prevention grant.
About the Jaguars Foundation:
The Jaguars Foundation focuses on strategic grant making, networking, and volunteer support to serve economically and socially disadvantaged youth and families of Jacksonville.
Other Foundation programs include:
- Honor Rows® uses seats at Jaguars home games to reward economically and socially disadvantaged youth for reaching pre-determined academic, behavioral, and public service goals;
- Straight Talk™, in partnership with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida and local media, to help reduce teen pregnancy, HIV/AIDS, and other sexually transmitted diseases;
- Jaguars Play 60 Challenge, co-sponsored by Baptist Health/Wolfson Children’s Hospital, in partnership with the NFL, American Heart Association and Duval County Public Schools, to help prevent youth obesity, promote physical activity and good nutrition; and,
- Jaguars Don’t Smoke, an initiative to reduce tobacco use among youth.
