Hispanic Education Agency Receives Meadows Foundation Grant

Oct. 4, 2011 - PRLog -- A matching grant of up to $50,000 has been awarded to AVANCE-Austin to help them with their community needs and operating support due to reductions in state funding.  Recent Federal and State funding cuts heavily impacted many educational agencies, especially early childhood education.  

“This grant award is a tremendous benefit to us and it will help fill in the gap left by the recent funding cuts.  The Meadows foundation understands how important philanthropy is to supporting early childhood education and how that support makes our city a more viable community,” says Sofia Casini, Executive Director with AVANCE-Austin.

The grant does have some stipulations, it is a challenge grant, a $1:$1 match, and AVANCE must raise the additional $25,000 between now and February 29, 2012.  To that end AVANCE is hosting an Annual Luncheon on Wednesday, October 19th from 11:30 to 1:00 p.m. at the Driskill Hotel on 604 Brazos located in downtown Austin.  The luncheon will honor the Legendary Leader Gustavo “Gus” Garcia.

The public is invited to register and celebrate AVANCE-Austin's successes and pay tribute to the Honorable Gustavo "Gus" Garcia for his life of advocacy and service to Austin and his fierce commitment to education for the children of our community.  All contributions to AVANCE-Austin's Annual Luncheon will be used toward the $25,000 challenge grant from the Meadows Foundation.  To purchase your ticket(s) register online at  www.avance-austin.org or call 512-326-9335 for more information.

AVANCE-Austin serves hundreds of Austin families each year and its parent-child education program has resulted in student school readiness by kindergarten, success in school, healthy home environments, crime prevention and economic development for our city.  Help us meet our challenge grant, while supporting the great work of Gustavo "Gus" Garcia and AVANCE!
 
More Info about The Meadows Foundation:
Algur H. Meadows established General American Oil Company of Texas in 1939 and led it to become one of the nation's most successful independent oil and gas production companies. Subsequently the family wanted to share their wealth and established the Meadows Foundation in 1948 to benefit the people of Texas.  Since its inception, The Meadows Foundation has disbursed in excess of $750 million in grants and direct charitable expenditures to over 3,000 Texas institutions and agencies.  The Meadows Foundation is among the most recognized private philanthropies in the country, both for its grant making practices and for its active engagement in advancing the field of private philanthropy. For additional information, visit The Meadows Foundation at http://www.mfi.org.

More Info about AVANCE:
AVANCE is one of the oldest, largest and most distinguished parenting/early education programs in the country. Since 1973, AVANCE has continued to provide innovative education and family support services to predominately Hispanic families in underprivileged communities. Dedicated to promoting school readiness and supporting family engagement AVANCE proudly serves as the national model and best practice of early childhood education for parents, teachers, the scientific community and general public.

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Unlocking America’s potential by strengthening families in at-risk communities through effective parent education and support programs. AVANCE is one of the odlest and most distingusished parenting-early chilhood programs in the the country.