CACF Announces 2007 Prana Award Recipients

The Charlottesville Area Community Foundation (CACF) announced today two recipients of the second annual Prana Fund Award: Boys & Girls Club of Charlottesville/Albemarle and the Youth Learning Academy, Inc.

The Boys and Girls Club of Charlottesville/Albemarle will receive a $25,000 outright grant for their Forest Discoveries program. A pilot program in 2007, the Forest Discoveries program provides Boys and Girls Club members an opportunity to “discover” the “urban wilderness” forest located right behind the Cherry Avenue Unit of the Club. The program encourages imagination, creativity, and habitat awareness through the integration of visual arts, creative writing, and direct experiences in nature. The Prana Award will expand the program by providing a Scientist-in-Residence and an Artist-in-Residence to lead the program. In addition, the grant will provide continued support for the program at the Cherry Avenue Unit as well as allow for expansion to the Club’s Southwood Unit.

The Prana Fund will also grant up to $25,000 in the form of a matching grant to the Youth Learning Academy (formerly Youth Motorsports Academy). The Youth Learning Academy will use these funds for the Design & Challenge Green Initiative, a hands-on program that links students (ages 6-18) with local architects and builders who provide skills training, active learning and mentorship opportunities in the design and construction fields. The program will integrate environmental education, green design, and sustainable building practices into the Design & Challenge Initiative. The program’s curriculum is aligned with the Virginia Standards of Learning and has been recognized as a meaningful program by Charlottesville and Albemarle County schools. This fall students were praised by the ASPCA for their “Barkitecture” project in which they designed and built 125 dog houses for pets that lost their homes in Hurricane Katrina. Individuals interested in helping the Youth Learning Academy reach its grant match may contact Kevin O’Halloran, Director of Donor Relations at (434) 296-1024 for more information.

This year the annual Prana Fund Award was for programs specifically directed to lower and middle income children that integrated environmental education and the fine arts.

The Charlottesville Area Community Foundation is a permanent endowment dedicated improving the quality of life in Charlottesville and the Counties of Albemarle, Greene, Orange, Louisa, Fluvanna, Buckingham, and Nelson. CACF makes grants of more than $4 million annually through its Community Endowment and its many donor-advised funds. Since its inception in 1967, the Community Foundation has made grants of more than $25 million to hundreds of nonprofit agencies.