Fifty urban young people spend a week canoeing down the Little Miami River. The summer program of self-discovery is designed to enhance confidence, understanding and leadership skills.  Participants are encouraged to re-envision themselves on neutral turf, away from the normal influences of their personal environment, so that they can practice making different choices in their lives as they are exposed to the natural world surrounding them. Many participants are new to the outdoors, which makes their new-found camping and canoeing skills all the more rewarding.  Veteran participants serve as Peer Leaders, modeling behavior for first-time RiverTrekkers 

Grants made in March:

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Cincinnati, $10,000.   Adopt-a-School program connects mentors with at-risk youth in a school setting.  Many mentors are upper class high school and college students.

Cincinnati Landmark Productions, $10,000.  Young People’s Theatre is a summer-long theatrical experience as about 100 teens come together on stage and backstage to put on a show at the Covedale Center for the Performing Arts.  Disney’s Beauty and the Beast is the 2017 production.

Cincinnati Opera Association, $20,000.  Opera Outbound features four components, including Opera Express, short, free opera experiences in communities, and Community Open Dress Rehearsal, where children attend a free full rehearsal of La Boheme. 

Cincinnati Recreation Commission, $10,000.  RiverTrek is a week-long program of self-discovery and team building for 50 young peope ages 12-17 that features a supervised five-day, four-night 65-mile canoe trip along the Little Miami River. 

First Baptist Church of Cumminsville (Faith Alliance Coalition), $7,000.  The Coalition’s Day of Hope 2017 will distribute back-to-school backpacks and supplies to hundreds of children at a community celebration focused on building relationships with Cincinnati Police and social service groups. 

Kenton County Public Library Foundation, $10,000.  The WAVE Foundation’s Shark Cart is designed to educate and entertain students for up to seven hours at six elementary schools and at three libraries from September to December.

Milestones, $10,000.  The Therapeutic Horseback Riding Program teaches basic horsemanship skills and grooming to nurture emotional health and improve cognitive, physical and psychological function for young people with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Down syndrome and other similar diagnoses. 

WAVE Foundation, $15,000.  A Career Exploring Initiative is designed to bring STEM careers alive for under-represented students participating in one of three job shadowing programs,

Xavier University, $20,000.  The summer service internship program fosters young people’s commitment to community service by placing college students in full-time internships at non-profit organizations, and hundreds of community members benefit from the work they do.

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.