The Freestore serves food insecure families in Greater Cincinnati, providing food and services that create stability and further self-reliance for people in crisis.  The Power Pack program, a large-scale childhood hunger prevention effort, provides weekend bags of food assistance to children in need to over 5,000 children at 100 school sites.  The Dater Foundation has made 31 grants totaling over $800,000 to the Freestore, and has supported the Power Pack program since 2009.

Grants made in December:

Cincinnati Opera Association, $25,000.  The Youth Opera-Tunities program provides 10,000 young and diverse children and teens with a variety of arts programs. 

Freestore Foodbank, $50,000.  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.

LaSoupe, $25,000.  Food insecure families benefit as unused, perishable food from restaurants is “rescued” and turned into nutritious meals that are dispensed through non-profit agencies.

Lydia’s House, $25,000.  Homeless women with children in transitional housing learn the importance of nutrition regarding health and physical development. 

Madcap Puppets. $20,000.  Many young, first-time theatre goers are given the opportunity to see Madcap’s highly acclaimed puppeteers at its Hats Off series and at area elementary schools that would not otherwise have the resources to provide this kind of programming.

Notre Dame Urban Education Center, $25,000.  An after-school and summer academic enrichment program benefits students in high poverty areas and at low performing schools in Covington and Newport as they get one hour of daily, one-on-one tutoring from volunteers.

Outdoor Adventure Clubs of Greater Cincinnati, $25,000.  Clubs at 23 partner schools offer weekend opportunities for camping, rock climbing, skiing, snowboarding, swimming, zip lining and wilderness survival techniques.  There is no charge.

Public Allies Cincinnati, $25,000.  “Allies” are placed in 10-month paid apprenticeships at local nonprofit organizations where they serve four days a week to create, improve and expand services that address local issues.

The Dater Foundation makes grants to non-profit organizations in the Greater Cincinnati area to carry out programs that benefit young people 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 2,800 grants totaling over $44 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.