DCF AWARDS $538,981 IN GRANTS FROM ELIASON FUNDS
Honoring the wishes of the late Helen Eliason, the Delaware Community Foundation has awarded $538,981 in grants from the philanthropist’s Fund for Children’s Literacy and the Education and Greening Fund.
Eliason believed that if a child could read and communicate, they had hope and a future, and that children should understand the value of the land from which their food comes.
This year, the Fund for Children’s Literacy and the Education and Greening Fund has awarded grants to 14 organizations around the state. They are:
FY21 Fund for Children’s Literacy Grants
PAWS – $8,199 To cover costs associated with establishing and maintaining 17 volunteer-driven school programs, reaching approximately 580 Delaware students.
Reading Assist – $10,932 To recruit, train and embed new Reading Assist Fellows to provide one-on-one reading intervention programs.
Read Aloud, Delaware – $10,932 To offset costs associated with implementing the new virtual program, LENA Start.
Wilmington Head Start – $10,932 To help supply teachers and students with supplies needed to excel in both in-person and virtual learning environments and build children’s home libraries.
New Castle County Head Start – $10,932 To send 414 children tools and activities to enhance at-home learning.
International Literacy Association – $101,125 To support the professional development of teachers of students in grades kindergarten through third grade, emphasizing reading skills and comprehension.
Wilmington Library – $120,257 To purchase and distribute books for children from infant to third grade, improve the library’s collections and activities for baby through third grade, and supplement literacy needs for other organizations.
FY21 Eliason Education and Greening Fund
Healthy Foods for Healthy Kids – $18,597 To buy supplies to sustain the Education Cultivation school vegetable gardening program at 30+ Delaware schools and provide seed giveaways to families.
West End Neighborhood House – $26,567 To support Bright Spot Farms urban agriculture program, Adult GED Education & Employment Training programs, Youth Summer Camp & After School Programming, and Conservation & Green Space Improvement.
UD Early Learning Center – $13,283 To cover costs associated with Anti-Bias Curriculum professional development, create outdoor learning environments, and buy children’s books and Forrest Garden Project supplies.
Fresh Start Scholarship Fund – $18,597 To support overall scholarship funding, which was awarded to 33 Delaware women.
Delaware Center for Horticulture – $79,701 To support Harvest 2020, Green Thumb virtual program, Virtual Garden Contest and Hip Hop Forestry virtual urban forestry event.
Boys & Girls Clubs of Delaware – $79,701 To upgrade equipment needed to provide low-income families access to technology for virtual learning, emergency childcare, virtual programming, trauma informed and mental health care, food, and summer learning loss/quarantine slide.
Salvation Army – $29,234 To build a greenhouse-type unit in the Early Learning Childcare Center, make playground upgrades, and buy gardening and nature books for children.