2012-2013 Grants (awarded April 2012)

ARIZONA BLIND AND DEAF CHILDREN’S FOUNDATION, founded in 2002, supports the Arizona School for the Deaf and the Blind (ASDB). In addition, the Foundation provides services and outreach to all blind, deaf, low-vision, and hard-of-hearing children and youth, as well as their families, educators, and communities. Grant supports summer literacy program for up to 100 deaf and blind students, ages six to 12, on the ASDB Campus. www.azblinddeafchildren.org

ARTS EXPRESS has enriched the greater Tucson community through the arts beginning with two events, Let Freedom Sing and Follow the Star. The need to expand the outreach of these productions and the dedicated desire to make the arts accessible to youth in Southern Arizona was fulfilled in 1999, when Arts Express was formed. Grant provides Fine Arts Youth Academy (FAYA) scholarships for disadvantaged youth to attend FAYA 2012. www.arts-express.org

COMMUNITY FOOD BANK SNAK PAKS FOR KIDS program, started in 2004, provides almost 50,000 Snak Paks each school year. Each Friday during the school year 1,250 children at 16 different schools receive their healthy snacks Snak Pak to take home for the weekend. Grant to purchase healthy food for the paks. www.community foodbank.com/programs-services/alphabetical-list/snak-paks

DESERT DOVE FARM, INC. provides an intensive program helping youth strengthen social, emotional, and behavioral functioning through non-riding, equine-assisted psychotherapy. Grant to replace fencing panels for their arena, currently a safety hazard. www.desertdovefarm.net

GABRIEL’S ANGELS provides healing pet therapy for at-risk children. Gabriel’s Angels has 45 certified Pet Therapy Teams and serves 4,000 children annually through 30 partner agencies. Animals and Children Together (ACT) training is provided to all volunteer Pet Therapy teams and is offered on a one-on-one basis to meet their needs. Grant to provide supplies for 20 ACT Learning Project Activity bags. www.gabrielsangels.org

GIRL SCOUTS OF SOUTHERN ARIZONA supports two programs for at-risk girls: Adelante Jovencitas (AJ) and Girl Scouts Beyond Bars (GSBB). AJ is delivered on site weekly at the Juvenile Detention Center and at La Canada Treatment Center. Once released, participants continue the program through Girl Scouts Girl Power. In GSBB, girl participants receive transportation monthly to the So. Arizona Correctional Release Center or the Perryville State Prison Complex, where their mothers are incarcerated, and take part in a two-hour Girl Scout meeting. Once a month the moms in the program work with staff to plan the meetings with their daughters. Grant to fund AJ and GSBB programs. www.girlscoutssoaz.org

MIRACLE SQUARE was established in 1982 to provide a unique living environment for elderly women and men with very low incomes and disabilities who demonstrate the physical ability and emotional determination to live independently. Grant to provide maintenance and repairs to their accessible van, roofing materials and supplies, and materials for residential development to encourage socialization. web.mac.com/miraclesquare

MOBILE MEALS OF TUCSON has provided special diet meals to homebound adults who are elderly or disabled and cannot cook or shop for themselves since 1970. Two meals are delivered to each client every Monday through Friday, except Thanksgiving and Christmas. Grant to cover meal costs. www.mobilemealsoftucson.org