Six Grants Awarded to Educational Organizations in Appalachian Ohio
Nelsonville, OH – Six organizations serving Belmont, Guernsey, Harrison, Jefferson, Monroe, and Noble counties will have greater support for their projects because of more than $23,000 awarded from the Gulfport Energy Fund at the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio (FAO). The Fund’s first grant round of 2018 focused on projects from nonprofit and public organizations related to education.
“Each of these projects are designed to create new educational opportunities for students,” says Mike Moore, CEO and President of Gulfport Energy. “We look forward to seeing the difference that each project will make in classrooms across these counties.”
The Gulfport Energy Fund at FAO was created to support nonprofits, schools, and communities through projects that increase quality of life, create access to opportunities, or identify and implement a solution for a community need in the counties where Gulfport Energy operates.
First round grantees in 2018 include:
The Belmont Soil Water Conservation District, which serves Belmont, Monroe, and Guernsey counties, received a $456.51 grant to support its Digital Sandbox Mobility project. This grant will go towards purchasing tools and wheels to make it easier to transport the Digital Sandbox around the six counties who use it. The digital sandbox is a physical sandbox with a colored topographic image projected into the sand; as the sand is moved around the sandbox, the software reflects those changes in the projected image. They will now be able to easily move it to different events so they can educate more young people.
Cambridge Middle School in Guernsey County received a $2,000 grant to support their Genius Hour Class project. This project encourages students to take charge of their education by picking a topic that they’re passionate about and giving them the tools they need to dig into the subject. Money from this grant will go towards purchasing supplies and updating the library for the Find Your Passion research project.
The Edison Local Schools in Jefferson County received a $7,000 grant to support the Family Talk and Share Library project. This project involves creating a public early literacy space for families in the school district where kids from ages 0-5 will be able to check out books to get a head start on their reading skills and boost their vocabulary.
Harrison North Elementary of Harrison County received a $1,000 grant to support the Yoga and Mindfulness for Kids program. The money will go towards purchasing yoga equipment for the students so they can practice yoga and learn more about meditation. This will give kids a healthy way to channel their emotions and manage their words and actions towards themselves and others.
Switzerland of Ohio Local School District of Monroe County received a $6,434.72 grant to support its March into Music program. Money from this grant will be used to purchase new equipment for the music program at the school, which includes a piano lab to help students increase their cognitive skills and expand their music education.
Zane State College, which serves Guernsey, Belmont, Noble, Harrison, Jefferson, and Monroe counties, received a $6,617 grant to support its Heavy Equipment Maintenance Technician program. Money from this grant will go towards purchasing the necessary tools to help educate the students on how to work with these machines.
The Gulfport Energy Fund will open its second grant round of the year on August 7, 2018. The second round will support health and human services and environmental stewardship projects. Please sign up for the Foundation’s e-newsletter on FAO’s website, www.AppalachianOhio.org, for the latest news on when grant opportunities become available.
For more information about the Gulfport Energy Fund and past grant recipients, please visit www.AppalachianOhio.org or call 740.753.1111.
About Gulfport Energy:
Gulfport Energy Corporation is an Oklahoma City-based independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company with its principal producing properties located in the Utica Shale of Eastern Ohio and along the Louisiana Gulf Coast. In addition, Gulfport holds a sizeable acreage position in the Alberta Oil Sands in Canada through its 25% interest in Grizzly Oil Sands ULC.
About the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio
The Foundation for Appalachian Ohio (FAO) is a regional community foundation serving the 32 counties of Appalachian Ohio. A 501(c)(3) public charity, the Foundation creates opportunities for Appalachian Ohio’s citizens and communities by inspiring and supporting philanthropy. For more information about FAO, visit www.AppalachianOhio.org.
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