GPK FOUNDATION

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Funded Projects: 2010

The Foundation made fourteen grants in November 2010, totaling $49,000.00. Awards were given to:

  • Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), in the amount of $5,000.00, to help the organization provide urgently needed medical care to people caught in humanitarian crises.

    From Sri Lanka to Sudan to Pakistan, MSF teams work in contexts in which civilians and aid workers are targeted or in which governments impede their ability to reach people in urgent need of medical attention. As of 2010, about 27,000 MSF doctors, nurses, logisticians, water-and-sanitation experts, and other medical and non-medical staff are providing urgently needed care in nearly 70 countries. At health centers, hospitals, mobile clinics, and disaster sites, these teams of professionals will conduct millions of outpatient consultations for diseases like malaria and tuberculosis, and perform surgery, deliver babies, and offer other inpatient care for hundreds of thousands of others.

  • The Central Asia Institute, in the amount of $5,000.00, in support of education in Afghanistan and Pakistan. CAI was founded by Greg Mortenson, known for his book Three Cups of Tea. This is the third year in which the GPK Foundation has supported the efforts of CAI.

    The GPK Foundation has been a proud donor to the Central Asia Institute, and is deeply troubled by the recent allegations against Greg Mortenson. We are watching closely as the story develops.

  • Global Marine Initiative, in the amount of $5,000.00. The Global Marine Initiative is part of The Nature Conservancy, the leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. Made up of experts in science and policy, the Conservancy's Global Marine Initiative achieves tangible results by leading marine conservation research and science, developing cutting-edge tools and innovative approaches, catalyzing high-impact partnerships and advocating for policies that enable conservation.

    The GMI will use funding from the GPK Foundation to support the Conservancy's 22 person team of global experts in marine science and policy. Some of the Conservancy's current focal areas include working to restore the Gulf of Mexico, and expanding marine conservation via The Caribbean Challenge.

  • The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation, in the amount of $5,000.00. The ACLU is a nonprofit, multi-issue, 500,000+ supporter public interest organization devoted to protecting the basic civil liberties of all people in the United States. The ACLU defends and promotes liberty, equality, democracy, and justice--themes around which they bring together litigators, communications specialists, and educators to plan and implement the ACLU's programs and goals.

    Among other goals, the ACLU strives to protect a woman's right to make her own reproductive health decisions, defend the separation of church and state, and end the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage. It advances the rights of immigrants and fends off copycat Arizona-like laws, and seeks to end racial profiling. It works to ensure accountability of government officials for torture conducted under the Bush Administration, and to end illegal government spying. It also targets the phenomenon of the "school-to-prison pipeline", which affects young people of color in particular, and fights to restore the voting rights of formerly incarcerated people.

  • The Children's Health Fund, in the amount of $5,000.00. Founded by singer/songwriter Paul Simon and pediatrician/child advocate Irwin Redlener, MD, in 1987, CHF is committed to providing health care to the nation's most medically underserved children and their families through the development and support of innovative primary care medical programs, response to public health crises, and the promotion of guaranteed access to appropriate health care for all children.

    Funds from the GPK Foundation will support the New York Children's Health Project (NYCHP), which serves children and families living in New York City homeless shelters and domestic violence shelters. The compassionate, family-focused care that NYCHP provides, addresses many of the physical and emotional needs of homeless families. NYCHP's Domestic Violence Program provides health care services to children and families impacted by domestic violence.

  • Planned Parenthood, in the amount of $5,000.00. Planned Parenthood Federation of America is the nation's leading reproductive health and rights organization. They conduct advocacy and public education at the national level, while also supporting the activities of Planned Parenthood affiliates across the country, as they provide sexual and reproductive health care and education to five million women, men, and young people annually.

    Current goals include: Secure contraceptive care as one of the services health plans must cover for women at no cost under the Women's Health Amendment. Mitigate the effects of the Nelson Amendment, which imposes substantial obstacles to abortion coverage in the health insurance exchanges created by health care reform. Increase the number of young people and Latina women actively engaged in the movement. Reach even more young people with the health information they need, such as via mobile optimized websites and applications, and a texting feature that will allow users to get immediate answers to their sexual and reproductive health questions.

  • Oklahoma University Cancer Institute, in the amount of $2,500.00. As Oklahoma's only comprehensive academic cancer center, it is charged by the Oklahoma Legislature with taking "statewide leadership" in cancer prevention, research, clinical care and education and to seek "comprehensive cancer center" designation by the National Cancer Institute. Approximately 100 PhD-level scientists are working there on cancer research programs, including several in gynecologic cancers. Their medical teams attend to patients during approximately 60,000 patient visits annually. They are training the next generation of health care professionals, including physicians, nurses, technicians, nutritionists and social workers.

  • Mercy Corps, in the amount of $2,500.00. Mercy Corps is a nonprofit international relief and development organization currently employing 3,700 team members who, with their partners, serve more than 16.7 million people in more than 40 countries, including programs in the Pacific Northwest. Since its founding in 1979, Mercy Corps has provided over $1 billion in assistance to people in 100 nations. Eighty-eight percent of the agency's resources are directly allocated to programs that help people in need.

    Mercy Corps programs are led by people within each region who speak its languages, know its history, and are committed to developing its human capital. Mercy Corps aims to provide vital assistance to at least 5 million people facing hardship over the next 12 months; help 200,000 farming families increase their productivity, raise incomes and adopt more environmentally sound practices in Africa, Asia and Latin America; and assist 4,000 families to recover from the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

  • National Wildlife Federation, in the amount of $2,500.00. Founded in 1936, the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) is one of the nation's oldest and most respected education and advocacy organizations. NWF's mission is to inspire Americans to protect wildlife for our children's future. To advance that mission, NWF focuses its work in three primary areas: bringing Americans together to find solutions to the climate crisis, protecting and restoring wildlife habitat, and reconnecting people of all ages with nature. Funds from the GPK Foundation will sponsor their 4th Annual Environmental Education Summit, the featured event of their Schoolyard Habitats program in the Houston Independent School District (HISD).

  • Families of Spinal Muscular Atrophy, in the amount of $2,500.00. Families of Spinal Muscular Atrophy is dedicated to creating a treatment and cure by: Funding and advancing a comprehensive research program; supporting SMA families through networking, information and services; improving care for all SMA patients; educating health professionals and the public about SMA; enlisting government support for SMA; and embracing all touched by SMA in a caring community.

    Funds from the GPK Foundation will be used to support a patient registry. Families of SMA would use these funds to support a research grant. The planned grant would be to support a patient registry, specifically set up for SMA patients and their families to join. The registry will help centralize information on this rare genetic disease, provide families a way to learn about research studies, and provide researchers a way to find research participants.

  • Legacy Community Health Services, in the amount of $2,500.00. Legacy is a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) and a United Way agency, whose goal is to provide high quality, low cost healthcare to all members of the community in a non-judgmental, culturally sensitive manner. Legacy focuses on identifying gaps in healthcare services and creating programs to fill those gaps.

    This grant will support Legacy's Frost Eye Clinic for the 2010-2011 operating year, to help fill a gap for clients living with HIV/AIDS who need specialized vision appliances. This is primarily for corrective lenses and glasses for medically and financially indigent patients living with HIV. Legacy also aims to provide vaccines to children, diabetic test strips to patients, and inhalers to children with asthma.

  • KUOW Puget Sound Public Radio, in the amount of $2,500.00. KUOW is a private, non-profit organization providing public radio programming and services to a broadcast region that includes Seattle, King County, Tacoma, the Puget Sound region and Western Washington. KUOW programming is heard on KUOW 94.9 FM in Seattle, KXOT 91.7 FM in Tacoma, KUOW 1340 AM in Tumwater, and 90.3 FM in Bellingham via transmitter, and globally online at kuow.org, and via HD digital radio. KUOW's program format includes local, national, and international news and information, with extensive coverage of civic concerns, technology, education, health, the environment and arts and culture in the community.

    KUOW's mission is to create a more informed public, one challenged and invigorated by a deeper understanding and appreciation of events, ideas and cultures. KUOW has been serving the local community since 1952 and is a founding member station of National Public Radio (NPR), an affiliate of Public Radio International (PRI) and American Public Media (APM), and a member of the Associated Press (AP). With this grant, KUOW will continue to operate on a non-commercial basis; encourage innovation and use sound creatively; report with accuracy, thoroughness and fairness; sustain relevance to the local community and respect the intelligence of listeners.

  • Northwest Harvest, in the amount of $2,500.00. Northwest Harvest's vision is that ample nutritious food is available to all in Washington State. They provide nutritious food to hungry people statewide in a manner that respects their dignity, while working to eliminate hunger. In FY2009 and FY2010 they secured a record-breaking 24 million pounds of nutritious food each year for distribution, 33% more than any previous year, with healthy fruits and vegetables making up over 67%. Food is distributed to a network of 300+ partner food banks, meal programs, and elementary schools. Currently their network is providing about 655,000 monthly services to children, women and men in need of food, a stark increase compared with pre-recession figures that averaged 500,000 monthly services. They require no documentation and aim to serve each person who approaches them in need of food. They also provide technical assistance, food buying opportunities and other support to partners.

    Northwest Harvest will use GPK Foundation funds for the direct costs of their annual Focus Groups project, which seeks to explain and put an end to hunger in Washington. Hunger rates here are higher than median income, poverty rates and other indicators would predict. The project promotes participation in advocacy for hunger relief by the people most directly affected: food bank customers.

  • Engineers Without Borders - USA, in the amount of $1,500.00. EWB-USA is a nonprofit humanitarian organization established to support community-driven development programs worldwide through partnerships that design and implement sustainable engineering projects. EWB-USA members, comprised of professional and student engineers or other disciplines, work with local communities and NGOs in over 45 developing countries around the world on projects such as water, renewable energy, sanitation and more. Dubbed the "Blueprint Brigade" by Time Magazine, EWB-USA has grown from little more than a handful of members in 2002 to over 12,000 members today and has over 400 projects worldwide.

    EWB-USA's organizational goals for the upcoming year are: 1. Deliver sustainable and appropriate community development programs across the globe and across technical expertise boundaries. 2. Provide transformational educational experiences which create an enriched life-long learning platform for EWB-USA's members and its communities. 3. Build a multi-disciplinary network of humanitarians that spans multiple generations, cultures, professions, and technologies.