[American Water] 자연 기반 놀이공간 지원하기 위한 기금 제공

미국의 가장 큰 물, 오수 시설 공개거래 회사인 American Water의 비영리기관인 American Water 자선재단이 지역의 자연 기반 놀이공간을 조성하기 위해 총 3십8만천 달러가 넘는 네 기금을 제공했다고 밝혔다. 

기금은 더 나은 지역 만들기(BBC)를 위해 맺은 재단과 레크레이션 및 공원협회(NRPA) 간 파트너십의 한 부분으로써 쓰인다. NRPA는 재단에서 모인 기금으로 직접 프로그램을 관리한다. BBC 기부활동 계획은 해당 지역의 삶의 질을 향상시키기고자 세워졌다.

The American Water Charitable Foundation -- a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization created by American Water, the nation's largest publicly-traded water and wastewater utility company -- has provided four grants totaling more than $384,000 to help finance local nature-based play spaces across American Water's nationwide service areas.

The grants are being administered as part of the Foundation's partnership with the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) for the Building Better Communities (BBC) signature grant program. NRPA directly administers the program, with funding made possible by the Foundation. The BBC philanthropy initiative is designed to enhance the quality of life in the communities the company serves.

The program is initially focusing on parks, as they are critical to preserving natural resources that have real economic benefits for communities. Specifically, the program concentrates on building or enhancing nature-based playgrounds and natural play spaces for children and will connect and educate people on environmental stewardship practices related to water.

Of the 118 applications received, a total of four projects from within American Water's national service area were selected to receive the grants. The projects were chosen based on several criteria including play value, education value, proximity to American Water's service areas, relevance of the project to the request-for-proposal (RFP) project parameters, use of natural play materials, opportunities for American Water employee volunteer involvement, and construction of an actual children's play area.

The grant recipients include the City of Belleville, Ill. ($109,000), the Lackawanna Heritage Valley Authority in Scranton, Pa. ($150,000), the Pleasant Valley Recreation and Park District in Camarillo, Calif. ($75,000), and the Brunswick Redevelopment and Revitalization Committee in Brunswick, Mo. ($50,000). Annually, the program aims to support several of these types of projects through grants administered to local communities. Each nature-based play space will be developed via a community partnership dedicated to ongoing stewardship.

[출처 = waterworld / 2014년 9월 8일]