The goal of the program is to give youth and teenagers 12-17 in the City of Cincinnati the opportunity to experience new challenges in an outdoor environment, learn about themselves, and develop leadership skills. 

RiverTrek’s 27th year will once again be a 5 day, 4 night camping/canoeing/kayaking trip down the Little Miami River to the Ohio River during the month of July.  The ski and snowboard club, a pilot program last year, will be a 4-6 week, once per week, learning experience during the winter months of January and February.

Grants made in April:

Cincinnati Cares, $35,000.  A cohort of children-serving nonprofit organizations will participate in an evidence-based change management program aimed at improving volunteer engagement and thereby improving outcomes.

Cincinnati Recreation Commission, $25,000.  Youth and Teen Outdoors Adventures is being expanded to include continuation of both the long-time, week-long Rivertrek program as well as winter skiing and snowboard activities introduced in a pilot program last year.  More detail above. 

Circle Tail, $25,000.  A therapy dog program raises and trains dogs for two years and then places them in schools to assist with therapeutic interventions and provide overall benefits to students as well as staff.

EDGE Teen Center, $35,000.  An after-school program for some 750 teens at two centers in the Liberty Township and West Chester area focuses on community service, healthy living, life skills and academic success, and career exploration.  Volunteers are a key part of the program.

Freestore Foodbank, $75,000.  The Power Pack Childhood Hunger Prevention Program distributes over 200,000 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.

Girl Scouts of Western Ohio, $35,00.  The Girl Scout Leadership Experience includes a community outreach program the Camp for Every Girl Initiative.    Over 2,500 Greater Cincinnati girls in lower socioeconomic neighborhoods benefit from this free program, which features a deeper focus on 500 girls in the new Girl Scouts for Every Girl Initiative.

Karen Carns Foundation, $30,000.  Coats for Kids provides about 1,500 winter coats, hats and pairs of gloves to young people in need while strengthening the bond between teachers and the students they have nominated to receive a coat.

Price Hill Will, $30,000.  The MYCincinnati program uses music to promote social change and youth development in Price Hill through a free, daily orchestra program for students during the school year.  The free four-week summer camp program that serves about 100 young people and the two-day Price Hill Creative Community Festival use collaborative arts to build a more creative, equitable and connected community.

Salvation Army, $20,000.  The Five-Star rated Learning Center is a Monday through Friday early childhood program that serves children ages six months to 12 years.  The Center provides care for children and assists in educating families in Price Hill and adjacent communities about healthy child development.  

SOS Art, $25,000.  General operating support includes making available cartoon books with themes on peace and justice to children ages 7-11 at local schools and libraries.   

St. Francis Seraph Ministries, $30,000.  General operating support includes skills training for homeless and low-income individuals as well as the organization’s mainstay food distribution program.

YMCA Great Miami Valley, $25,000.  Support to reduce the participation cost for children with special needs in a seven-week baseball program at the Joe Nuxhall Miracle League Fields in Fairfield.

YWCA of Greater Cincinnati, 40,000.  The Domestic Violence Shelter Program provides safe, secure and emergency shelter to children and youth forced to flee their homes due to life-threatening abuse.

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 3,500 grants totaling over $69 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 700 Walnut Street, Suite 301, Cincinnati, OH 45202.