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Mediterra Fund distributes $95,000 to six area programs
Mediterra Naples Country Club
Six Southwest Florida organizations that expand learning opportunities for local children are sharing $95,000 in grants awarded by the Mediterra Fund. The annual funding program benefits nonprofit agencies in Collier and Lee counties; the most recent round of grant distributions pushes the fund’s cumulative total to $645,000 since its inception.
The Mediterra Fund is financed by a portion of the resale of existing homes in Mediterra and is overseen by a committee of five residents.
The Literacy Council of Bonita Springs will use its $15,000 grant to buy books and supplies for its Moms and Tots program that teaches English to preschool children and their mothers. Learning alongside their youngsters gives mothers the skills to help their children with homework, says Susan Acuna, executive director of the Literacy Council, noting the Moms and Tots program has grown from an initial class of four at one site to 280 mothers and children.
Moms and Tots participants attend two weekly two-hour sessions yearround, and mothers receive a book each week to take home and start a library. The lessons often given the women the confidence to find a job after their children start school, Acuna says.
The Immokalee Foundation is also receiving a $15,000 grant for its Take Stock in Children program, which reaches out to more than 100 seventh through 12th-grade students in Immokalee. Take Stock in Children pairs students with mentors who often share their life experiences and show them “the other opportunities in the world,” says the program’s executive director, Ed Laudise. “They’re part archangel, part coach who sticks with them throughout middle school and high school.”
Four-year college scholarships are available to students who complete the program. Take Stock in Children is funded primarily by private dollars. “It costs us $1,800 a child per year,” Mr. Laudise says. “It’s not cheap but that’s the cost of changing a life.”
A $15,000 grant to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes also helps high school students in Immokalee. Last year’s contribution from the Mediterra Fund paid for high school football teams from Immokalee, Moore Haven and east Lee County to attend FCA football camp at Webber University. The Fellowship expects to use the newest grant to fund basketball team trips to its camp, including the junior varsity and varsity girls’ teams from Golden Gate.
Other agencies receiving $15,000 grants were the Scholars Club/Public Schools Enrichment Partnership at Florida Gulf Coast University and the Education Foundation of Collier County. The Gargiulo Education Center, run by Redlands Christian Migrant Association, will receive $20,000.
Mediterra, a development of Bonita Bay Group, has been named Community of the Year by the Collier Building Industry Association for five years and has received the Award of Excellence for Open Spaces from the Florida Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects.(source: florida weekly 4/9/2009)
Mediterra Naples Country Club
Six Southwest Florida organizations that expand learning opportunities for local children are sharing $95,000 in grants awarded by the Mediterra Fund. The annual funding program benefits nonprofit agencies in Collier and Lee counties; the most recent round of grant distributions pushes the fund’s cumulative total to $645,000 since its inception.
The Mediterra Fund is financed by a portion of the resale of existing homes in Mediterra and is overseen by a committee of five residents.
The Literacy Council of Bonita Springs will use its $15,000 grant to buy books and supplies for its Moms and Tots program that teaches English to preschool children and their mothers. Learning alongside their youngsters gives mothers the skills to help their children with homework, says Susan Acuna, executive director of the Literacy Council, noting the Moms and Tots program has grown from an initial class of four at one site to 280 mothers and children.
Moms and Tots participants attend two weekly two-hour sessions yearround, and mothers receive a book each week to take home and start a library. The lessons often given the women the confidence to find a job after their children start school, Acuna says.
The Immokalee Foundation is also receiving a $15,000 grant for its Take Stock in Children program, which reaches out to more than 100 seventh through 12th-grade students in Immokalee. Take Stock in Children pairs students with mentors who often share their life experiences and show them “the other opportunities in the world,” says the program’s executive director, Ed Laudise. “They’re part archangel, part coach who sticks with them throughout middle school and high school.”
Four-year college scholarships are available to students who complete the program. Take Stock in Children is funded primarily by private dollars. “It costs us $1,800 a child per year,” Mr. Laudise says. “It’s not cheap but that’s the cost of changing a life.”
A $15,000 grant to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes also helps high school students in Immokalee. Last year’s contribution from the Mediterra Fund paid for high school football teams from Immokalee, Moore Haven and east Lee County to attend FCA football camp at Webber University. The Fellowship expects to use the newest grant to fund basketball team trips to its camp, including the junior varsity and varsity girls’ teams from Golden Gate.
Other agencies receiving $15,000 grants were the Scholars Club/Public Schools Enrichment Partnership at Florida Gulf Coast University and the Education Foundation of Collier County. The Gargiulo Education Center, run by Redlands Christian Migrant Association, will receive $20,000.
Mediterra, a development of Bonita Bay Group, has been named Community of the Year by the Collier Building Industry Association for five years and has received the Award of Excellence for Open Spaces from the Florida Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects.(source: florida weekly 4/9/2009)
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