For Immediate Release: December 8, 2005
UMW PHILANTHROPY CLASS ANNOUNCES GRANT RECIPIENTS
Fredericksburg, Va. – Students enrolled in a new philanthropy course at the University of Mary Washington announced today two local nonprofit organizations who were awarded $5,000 grants: Rappahannock Refuge, Inc./Hope House and the Fredericksburg Regional Boys and Girls Club.
The grants were funded by Doris Buffett’s Sunshine Lady Foundation, which provided the class with $10,000 to award how it saw fit. The students received a total of 20 applications. Each of the winners stated in their application that their projects would only require $5,000.
At the presentation ceremony, Doris Buffett commended the class on their grant selections, saying that “There is no better investment than helping boys and girls, or helping women get back on their feet.”
The course, “Economics of Philanthropy and the Nonprofit Sector,” is taught by Robert Rycroft, professor of economics at the University of Mary Washington. It allowed students to learn about philanthropy through hands-on assignments to form a foundation, create the criteria for the award, solicit applications for the grants, review the applications and select the award winners.
Rappahannock Refuge, Inc./Hope House will use the grant to upgrade the equipment and programming in their Computer Learning Center. The Fredericksburg Regional Boys and Girls will use their grant for the “Career Launch Program,” which seeks to encourage teens to explore a variety of careers, make sound educational decisions and practice job skills.
The foundation created by the class asked that programs emphasize educational development, mental and physical health, and/or provide crisis sheltering, with special emphasis on fledgling programs or concepts for new and sustainable programs.
The course is slated to be taught each fall at the University of Mary Washington, with continued funding from the Sunshine Lady Foundation. Buffett also funds similar courses at the University of Virginia and Davidson College in North Carolina, and she plans to begin another at Cornell University.
The Sunshine Lady Foundation is a private family foundation funded by Doris Buffett, sister of billionaire Warren Buffet. The foundation invests in organizations and programs dedicated to providing opportunities for the advancement of education, well being and new life choices for disadvantaged people with special empathy for the working poor and families in crisis. More information about the foundation is available at www.sunshineladyfdn.org.
For more information about the philanthropy course at the University of Mary Washington, contact Dr. Rycroft at (540) 654-1500 or rrycroft@umw.edu.
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News release prepared by: Teresa Mannix