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Kellogg Foundation Awards $15
Million to Improve Public Access to Recreation
Philanthropy News Digest, May 2006
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The
W.K. Kellogg
Foundation in Battle Creek, Michigan, has awarded grants
totaling $15 million to the
Michigan
Department of Natural Resources (DNR), the
Michigan
Recreation and Park Association (MRPA), and Midwest
Community Foundations' Ventures to help improve access to
Michigan's recreational opportunities.
The project, Access to Recreation,
will provide a combination of challenge grants, technical
assistance, and public education to recreation facilities that
exceed current standards set by the
American
Disabilities Association. Access to Recreation is a
continuation of Able to Play, a project the foundation developed
for its seventy-fifth anniversary to help Michigan communities
build playgrounds where children of all abilities can play and
learn together.
Among other things, MRPA will
develop incentive programs to recognize member projects that
advance universal accessibility. In addition, the Department of
Natural Resources will use the funding to expand accessibility
in local parks and programs in conjunction with DNR-administered
grant programs. The Midwest Community Foundations' Ventures, a
supporting organization of the
Council of
Michigan Foundations, which represents more than sixty-five
community foundations in the state, will coordinate the work.
"This effort will help continue
Michigan's leadership in access and rights for citizens with
disabilities," said Kellogg Foundation president and CEO
Sterling Speirn. "That tradition includes the first Barrier Free
Design Act, the first state to mandate universal curb cuts, and
the inclusion of disabilities within the Civil Rights Act. It is
only natural that Michigan expand this leadership to provide
recreational accessibility to its many natural resources for
citizens and visitors."
“W.K. Kellogg Foundation Will Provide $15 Million in Support of
Public Recreation Projects that Provide Universal
Accessibility.” W.K. Kellogg Foundation Press Release 4/27/06.
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