Grants

"Working with the Peace Corps should not be like working with another government agency. We have a special mission which can only be accomplished if everyone believes in it and works for it in a manner consistent with the ideals of service and volunteerism."
-- R. Sargent Shriver

The Sargent Shriver Award for Community Service and Volunteerism

The Milwaukee Peace Corps Association is pleased to offer the Sargent Shriver Award for Community Service and Volunteerism. Beginning in 2011, this new award will be presented annually to a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer in southeast Wisconsin who has demonstrated a commitment to community service and improving their community through volunteer work.

RPCVs can be nominated by an organization they have worked with, people they have served, colleagues, friends, family or other RPCVs. A charitable contribution of $500 will be made in the name of each awardee to the non-profit organization of their choice.

To nominate an RPCV, please include the following information:

• Name of RPCV
• Country / years of service
• Name on nominating organization / individual
• Connection to nominee
• A brief statement (500 words or less) highlighting this person's commitment to community service and volunteerism. Include examples of volunteerism and list organizations or projects the person has been involved with in the community. Why do YOU think they are deserving of this award?

Nominations are due by October 31, 2011, and should be sent to:
Milwaukee Peace Corps Association, Inc. (MPCA)
P.O. Box 511322
Milwaukee, WI 53203-0221
info@milwaukeepeacecorps.org

Questions? Contact the MPCA Grants and Giving Coordinator at info@milwaukeepeacecorps.org.

The International Learning Center, a program of Neighborhood House of Milwaukee, would like to thank the Milwaukee Peace Corps Association for its donation of $500.00.  This funding enabled us to take three field trips.  This support helped with the following outcomes:

• Refugee families gain language, life, and social skills needed to participate in children’s education and development and maintain a strong family unit while learning the importance of parental involvement in their child’s education
• Refugees function effectively as citizens gaining language, life and social skills needed to attain citizenship, participate in the Milwaukee community and access community resources.

On February 7, 126 adult participants and 7 preschoolers went to the Mitchell Park Domes.  Learners enjoyed seeing familiar plants from their homes in Africa and Southeast Asia.  Most participants had never visited the Domes before, so this was an opportunity for them to learn about a place they can bring their families in Milwaukee.

On March 4, 56 adult participants and 3 children and preschool went to Neighborhood House’s maple sugar farm in Ashipun, WI.   Neighborhood House's outdoor educators helped the participants through the process of tapping the trees, collecting sap, making it into syrup, and of course eating it!  They also hiked and enjoyed sledding in the woods.

On March 30, 111 adult participants and 12 preschoolers went to the Central Milwaukee Public Library.  They toured the library and learned about the check-out process.  The preschoolers played in the puppet theater, climbed in the play tower and listened to the instructor read books.

Dear MPCA,

I want to report that your grant to the Liberian Assistance Program (LAP) has been spent! We regret that it took us so long to complete the project you funded. As you may recall, you gave LAP $300 in the fall of 2009 to build chairs for the new Barack Obama school that we are building and supporting in Cow Field, Liberia.

We had expected the project to be completed earlier, but the principal suggested we delay building the desks until he had the doors and windows on the school, so he could secure the desks safely in the building. That sounded sensible to us. Now, more than 100 desks have been completed (each desk costs $15 for the materials and construction that is done in the village). The remainder of the desks will be built in the next few months. I am enclosing photos of some of the desks with children sitting in them, plus a couple of photos of the school.

In addition to your grant, we also received funding for the desks from the Friends of Liberia and the Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of WI-Madison.

We had hoped the school would open last fall, but we delayed it to the fall of 2011, since our principal wanted everything to be in place before opening the doors. The building was completed in March, but we are still in the midst of furnishing it with textbooks, the rest of the desks, a water pump, etc.

The president of the Friends of Liberia visited the principal and the school just last month and was impressed with the progress and gave us some good suggestions for moving ahead.

We feel very fortunate to be working with the principal, Jessie Kekula, a student of mine when I served in the Peace Corps in Liberia in 1964-66. We also feel fortunate to have two members of our advisory committee living in Monrovia, Liberia - Lyn and Jim Gray, former Peace Corps volunteers in Liberia. As the school has been built, Lyn goes over the expenses with Jessie, after each $2,000 has been spent.

Again, we very much appreciate your help with the desks. If anyone in your group expects to travel to Liberia, we would hope he or she might stop to see the Barack Obama School in Cow Field, just outside of Monrovia. I think you would feel proud to be a part of this project, completed by a former student of a Peace Corps volunteer.

Sincerely,
Judy Reed, Chair, Liberian Assistance Program
PCV Liberia, 1964-66

The MPCA Board is pleased to announce the following grant awards to be made to local and international organizations furthering our goals of

• Providing for basic human needs: food, shelter, health care, education
• Facilitating cross cultural education/understanding
• Empowering underserved groups including, but not limited to immigrants, racial and ethnic minorities, low income communities, women and girls, etc.
• Providing opportunities for volunteering/community service

Domestic Grants:

Neighborhood House International Learning Center: $500
To assist refugees and recent immigrants in developing the literacy, oral communication and life skills necessary to function in their new country.

Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee Refugee Resettlement Services: $469
To support the development of a community garden for older refugees, providing a source of fresh fruits and veggies, opportunities for socializing and forming new relationships and enabling them to become more integrated in a supportive community.

International Grants:

Friends of African Village Libraries: $500
To support their summer reading camp program, which will provide 100 children an opportunity to read intensively for one week during their summer break, an opportunity that they might otherwise not have--being responsible for income generating activities. They hope to contribute to a culture of reading and enhance reading skills for these young people.

Youthaiti - $500
To support their Ecological Sanitation program, providing 20 families with moveable Arborloos - eco-friendly latrines - and health/sanitation education. This will hopefully improve sanitation and ultimately, the health of the community.

This fall the MPCA received several requests for financial assistance to help start-up and/or support community initiatives. This round of recipients includes 2 domestic and 3 international projects which will receive $300 each from the Milwaukee Peace Corps Association to help fund their community projects. We give a sincere 'Thank You' to all the donors who help keep the MPCA Mini-Grant program alive through your generous gifts! Our Fall '09 grants will go to the following Wisconsin PCVs and Milwaukee Community Organizations: