Greenville Zoo Awarded Grant

Greenville Zoo grant to be used for a new leopard enclosure
Photo credit The Greenville Zoo

Press Release from the City of Greenville/Greenville Zoo:

(Greenville SC) The Greenville Zoo Foundation has received a $75,000 grant from Greenville Women Giving for a new leopard holding enclosure at the Greenville Zoo.

Greenville Women Giving announced the 2020 grant winners on Thursday and the Greenville Zoo Foundation was one of seven recipients of funds totaling $541,000.

 

Leopard Cub

The Greenville Zoo is currently home to three Amur leopards: Jade, the zoo’s nine-year-old female, and her two cubs born in February.

Nelkan, the zoo’s 13-year-old male leopard, is on loan to the Philadelphia Zoo while Jade cares for the cubs.

The zoo’s current holding area is one large room, which cannot house two adult leopards and cubs.

The grant from Greenville Women Giving will enable the zoo to build a new facility with multiple rooms to adequately house a family of leopards.

 The Amur leopard is the rarest large cat species, with less than 100 Amur leopards living in the wild.

It is also the only large cat species to be considered for reintroduction to the wild, making breeding and maintaining a high genetic variability within the zoo population extremely important. The Greenville Zoo participates in a cooperative breeding program developed by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums for Amur leopards.

This program is crucial to the Amur leopard's survival and through Greenville Women Giving’s support, the zoo can continue its work to save the Amur leopard and the community can continue to see and learn about this rare species right here in Greenville.

Leopard Cub

There are other ways to support the Greenville Zoo while they remain temporarily closed due to the Coronavirus Pandemic.  Hold a meeting... meeting animals!  

https://989word.radio.com/articles/news/bring-on-the-monkey-business

Previously reported on WORD, for a contribution of $75 or $100, a Greenville Zoo educator will kick off your next virtual meeting talking about an animal at the Zoo. 

How about a Spider Monkey to start things off?  Red Panda?  Kinkajou?

Take full advantage of this fun and educational meeting starter (or close) by visiting - GreenvilleZoo.com/ZooMeetings 

 

Press Release from Greenville Women Giving below:

GREENVILLE, S.C., (May 7, 2020) ­– Greenville Women Giving (GWG) announced today it has awarded a total of $541,844 in grant funding to seven non-profit organizations in Greenville County.

GWG was founded in 2006 as a special initiative of the Community Foundation of Greenville.

Since its founding, GWG has funded 123 grants in the Greenville community totaling over $6.5 million. Grants are fully funded by the contributions of Greenville Women Giving members.

“Each of the organizations receiving grants this year will invest their funds in high impact areas of need that will have far reaching effects throughout our community,” said GWG Grants Committee Chair Rene’ Hutchisson.

Grant applications were submitted between October 14 and November 29, 2019.

Qualifying applications must meet a need that directly supports at least one of GWG’s five core areas of focus: the arts, the environment, education, health, and human services.

Each of the five areas had a separate grants review team that carefully reviewed 73 applications.

Site visits were conducted in order to learn more about the organizations and their needs.

Site visits were completed by the end of February, prior to the pandemic becoming an issue in South Carolina.

In early March, when social distancing measures went into effect, grants review team members conducted video conferences to determine which organizations would appear on the final ballot.

The ballot, with 17 finalists, was emailed to all 530 members, and seven nonprofits were selected to receive grant award checks on May 8, 2020.

The 2020 grantees chosen for funding are:

Greenville Center for Creative Arts – $84,183 to enhance visitor experience by installing signage, ADA compliant entrances, gallery lighting, and security lighting.

Greenville Zoo Foundation – $75,000 to remodel and expand the leopard housing area, meeting requirements for continued participation in the international Amur leopard breeding program.

Harvest Hope Food Bank – $55,485 to install a new, safe loading dock system which will increase the efficiency of food intake and delivery to 450,000 people per year.

Julie Valentine Center – $99,225 to upgrade the sexual assault forensic exam room and increase access to trauma-informed counseling services for sexual assault victims.

Legacy Early College High School – $98,566 over 2 years to fund increasing program costs and support program expansion to over 300 underserved students.

Soteria at Work – $49,385 to hire a manager and renovate the woodshop, increasing job-training capabilities for previously incarcerated men and reducing recidivism.

United Ministries - $80,000 over 2 years to qualify for matching funds and purchase 2 homes to provide interim housing for families transitioning out of homelessness.

“This year’s grants are awarded at a time when unprecedented challenges face our community due to the pandemic,” said GWG Co-Chair Emelia Stephenson. “We are particularly grateful to be able to support these organizations at a time when funding for non-profits is especially challenging.”

About Greenville Women Giving

Greenville Women Giving is a philanthropic women's collective giving organization created as a special initiative of the Community Foundation in 2006.

Since its founding, GWG has awarded 123 grants totaling over $6.5 million and has grown to over 530 members.

Membership in Greenville Women Giving is open to all women who commit to the annual contribution. For information about membership, upcoming events and grants, please visit greenvillewomengiving.org or follow GWG on Facebook (@GreenvilleWomen).

 

 

 

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