The Power Pack program offers a bag of 15 food items selected for nutritional quality and diversity, helping children stay active and healthy when school meals are not available.  During the last school year, the program supported more than 4,200 children each weekend throughout Greater Cincinnati, decreasing childhood hunger and allowing children to return to school Monday morning ready to learn.  The Dater Foundation has supported this program for nearly a decade. 

Grants made in January:

Cincinnati Works, $15,000.  The Job Readiness program assists at risk young adults in identifying their strengths and skills, and then moving forward with specific goals and strategies toward employment and economic self-sufficiency.

Council on Child Abuse, $10,000.  The school-based personal safety program focuses on prevention of child abuse by helping to create safer schools where children do not fear teasing, bullying or violence. Teacher training, parent workshops and classroom presentations to children

Freestore Foodbank, $20,000.  Power Packs are carry-home meals for children in low-income families to ensure they will have food over weekends and during holidays when school meals are not available.

Society of St. Vincent De Paul/Northern Kentucky, $10,000.  St. Vincent DePaul, Covington, $10,000.  The Sweet Dreams Bed Program follows up in-home visits by volunteers and provides a twin bed to economically disadvantaged children and youth.

Ohio River Foundation, $10,000.  River Explorer and the School Outdoor Habitats are hands-on programs that introduce more than 4,000 schoolchildren to the benefits of environmental stewardship.

The Dater Foundation makes grants to non-profit organizations in the Greater Cincinnati area to carry out programs that benefit children and focus in the areas of arts/culture, education, healthcare, social services and other community needs.  Information about the grantmaking process and guidelines and links to an online grant application website are available at www.DaterFoundation.org.

The private foundation was established by fourth-generation Cincinnatian, businessman and philanthropist Charles Dater (1912-1993) to ensure that his resources would continue to fund worthwhile community programs after his death. The foundation has made more than 2,700 grants totaling over $43 million since its inception in 1985. 

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For additional information regarding this news release, contact Roger Ruhl (513/598-1141).

The Charles H. Dater Foundation, Inc. is located at 602 Main Street, Suite 302, Cincinnati, OH 45202.