The Bayer USA Foundation Awards More Than $70,000 To North Carolina Nonprofits
Research Triangel Park, N.C. (PRWEB) November 26, 2013 -- Bayer CropScience recently announced that the Bayer USA Foundation has awarded more than $70,000 to North Carolina nonprofit organizations, including the Boys & Girls Clubs of Wake County, Dress for Success® Triangle NC, John Avery Boys & Girls Club of Durham, Keep NC Beautiful, Lucy Daniels Center, Make-A-Wish® Eastern North Carolina, North Carolina Theatre, The Queen’s Foundation, Inc., Shepherd's Table Soup Kitchen, and Wake Education Partnership. These gifts are part of the Bayer USA Foundation’s nearly $1.5 million in grants to nonprofits nationwide for the first half of 2013. The grants support STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education as well as other social service and community development initiatives in several of Bayer’s major business communities in the U.S.
The Bayer USA Foundation is an endowed 501(c)(3) entity with a programmatic focus on education and workforce development, and environment and sustainability. The foundation aligns its funding with Bayer AG’s global giving strategy for the promotion of science and society.
“As an innovative company, Bayer remains committed to improving science literacy and creating a diverse pipeline of STEM talent in the United States,” said Jim Blome, president and CEO of Bayer CropScience LP. “The Bayer USA Foundation directly support Bayer’s mission: Science For A Better Life. Bayer CropScience is proud to work with the Foundation to support nonprofit organizations in North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park and throughout the state.”
Nearly $500,000 of the $1.5 million is designated for new grants, while more than $1 million of the foundation’s giving is for ongoing multi-year commitments.
“Multi-year donations represent Bayer’s long-term investment in STEM education, especially as it impacts minority and underserved students living in or near our major site communities,” added Sarah Toulouse, executive director of the Bayer USA Foundation.
The Foundation’s geographic focus areas include: Raleigh-Durham, N.C.; Baytown/Houston, Texas; Berkeley/Northern Calif.; Kansas City, Mo.; Northern N.J.; Pittsburgh, Pa; and Shawnee, Kan.
Some of the new 2013 North Carolina grant recipients include:
Boys & Girls Clubs of Wake County – Raleigh, N.C.
A grant will support the Raleigh Boy’s Club’s and Raleigh Girls Club’s Collaborative STEM Initiative (CSI) for underserved minority youth in some of the city’s most disadvantaged neighborhoods. In 2013-2014, the program will reach 740 youth. Funds will be used to support CSI program staff salaries and supplies.
Dress for Success® Triangle NC – Durham and Raleigh, N.C.
A grant will support the Dress for Success Triangle’s job acquisition program, the Going Places Network, to provide highly-effective training to 30 additional women living in poverty. In its third year, the program provided more than 300 participants access to support and services. Women completing the program have experience a 70 percent success rate.
John Avery Boys & Girls Club of Durham – Durham, N.C.
A grant will support the club’s Career Launch program, which helps elementary to high school students explore STEM-related careers, as well as a garden where students learn about agriculture and horticulture. Seventy-five percent of students who participate in these programs live in households with a total annual income of less than $25,000.
Keep NC Beautiful – Raleigh, N.C.
A grant will support Keep NC Beautiful’s 4th annual America Recycles Day in Raleigh, a collection that is FREE for individuals to recycle plastic film, electronic waste, batteries and rigid plastics plus shred and recycle documents. The event, to be held on Saturday, Nov. 16, will educate people on the household items that can be recycled, such as plastic chairs, buckets, plastic bags, batteries and all electronics with a cord.
Lucy Daniels Center – Raleigh, N.C.
A grant will support the organization’s Teaching Garden that helps elementary school students with emotional and mental health challenges learn about horticulture. Overall, the center provides emotional health services to children in the Triangle who may not otherwise be able to afford them.
Make-A-Wish® Eastern North Carolina – Morrisville, N.C.
A grant will provide funding for the organization to help grant various wishes to children in Eastern North Carolina. Example wishes include a trip to the San Diego Zoo to be a zoologist for the day or to Sea World to be exposed to a career in marine biology.
North Carolina Theatre – Raleigh, N.C.
A grant will support North Carolina Theatre’s Stage2School program, which educates, entertains, and inspires students in classrooms and after school programs throughout Wake County, and provides a menu of theatre-based workshops and discussions tied to curriculum. The Theatre will also bring a variety of outreach programming to the youth of Passage Home, another organization supported by Bayer CropScience, by providing a series of Theatre4Change workshops in the summer of 2013 and spring of 2014, as well as a program for Passage Home’s annual holiday party in December.
The Queen’s Foundation, Inc. – Greensboro, N.C.
A grant will support a College Prep Retreat Weekend for underserved young women in North Carolina seeking to start the college application process. These young women are the first in their families to pursue higher education.
Shepherd’s Table Soup Kitchen – Raleigh, N.C.
A grant will support the Shepherd’s Table Soup Kitchen in meeting their increased budget which comes from the cost of living, additional people in need and help in supplementing food shortages. For the past 30 years, The Shepherd’s Table has been serving an average of 330 men, women and children each day.
Wake Education Partnership – Raleigh, N.C.
A grant will support specific programs in Wake County classrooms and schools. Initiatives benefitting from the grant include: Teacher Leadership Grants to incentivize innovative classroom instruction; Excellence in Action, a program using evidence-based criteria to identify best educational practices; Early Childhood Literacy, a pre-kindergarten through third grade reading program; and Pieces of Gold, the school system’s annual performing arts extravaganza. Other programs funded include the annual Education Summit for community and business leaders; In-Context, the school system’s bi-weekly e-publication; Quality Matters, an interactive Partnership website; and the Partnership’s College Advisory Council.
In addition to providing support to these grant recipients as part of its $1.5 million in national strategic grants in 2013, the Bayer USA Foundation is also supporting several other local nonprofits this year, including Passage Home, a nonprofit organization alleviating poverty and homelessness, and strengthening families and communities in Wake County, the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina, and the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics in Durham, N.C.
The Bayer USA Foundation presented a four-year grant of $600,000 to Passage Home for the development of a new community garden in the Brown Birch neighborhood of South Raleigh and for increased support of STEM education for students involved in the organization’s after-school and summer school programs at the neighborhood’s Safety Club. The foundation also gave a grant to the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina over a period of three years to support the organization in its fight against hunger throughout 34 counties in the state. This includes participating in the food bank’s Weekend Power Pack Program, which aims to meet the nutritional needs of children at risk of hunger during non-school hours over weekends and holidays. Together, Bayer and the food bank provide each at-risk student with a backpack filled with 10 pounds of food weekly. For the next three years, the foundations will provide a grant each year to the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics. The total grant will fund Labs for Learning, a year-round science enrichment program for underserved students in ninth and tenth grades in North Carolina schools. The program engages students with hands-on laboratory activities built around the topics of climate change and biotechnology, and encourages STEM career exploration.
For more information on Bayer CropScience, visit http://www.bayercropscience.us, connect on the Bayer CropScience social media hub, connect.bayercropscience.us, or follow us on Twitter @Bayer4CropsUS.
About Bayer USA Foundation
The Bayer USA Foundation is an endowed 501(c)(3) entity with a programmatic focus on education and workforce development, and environment and sustainability. The Foundation supports organizations that enhance quality of life, connect diverse groups, ensure preparedness for tomorrow’s leaders, and improve communities in which Bayer employees live and work. The Bayer USA Foundation is one of three Bayer foundations worldwide, including the Bayer Science & Education Foundation and the Bayer Cares Foundation. To learn more, go to bayerus.com/foundation.
About Bayer CropScience
Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the fields of health care, agriculture and high-tech materials. This year the company looks back on 150 years of working to fulfill its mission “Bayer: Science For A Better Life”. Bayer CropScience, the subgroup of Bayer AG responsible for the agricultural business, has annual sales of EUR 8,383 million (2012) and is one of the world’s leading innovative crop science companies in the areas of seeds, crop protection and non-agricultural pest control. The company offers an outstanding range of products including high value seeds, innovative crop protection solutions based on chemical and biological modes of action as well as an extensive service backup for modern, sustainable agriculture. In the area of non-agricultural applications, Bayer CropScience has a broad portfolio of products and services to control pests from home and garden to forestry applications. The company has a global workforce of 20,800 and is represented in more than 120 countries. This and further news is available at: press.bayercropscience.com.
Contact:
Media can utilize the hotline at 1-866-99-BAYER, or contact
Beth Roden
Manager of External Communications
Bayer CropScience
Tel: (919) 549-2030
Email: beth(dot)roden(at)bayer(dot)com
Twitter: @bayer4cropus
Jennifer Fair
MMI Public Relations
Tel: (919) 233-6600
Email: jennifer(at)mmipublicrelations(dot)com
(USA-BCS-2013-0330)
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Beth Roden, Bayer CropScience, LP, http://www.bayercropscience.us, +1 (919) 549-2030, [email protected]
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