Fernside's School-Based Grief Support Programming consists of two of the organization's fastest growing and impactful programs.  The School Program serves students in five-week grief support groups who are all grieving the loss of a different person, most commonly a parent or a sibling. The Crisis Program provides large-scale intervention to the entire school community most commonly following the death of a student. Both programs are available to any elementary, junior high, or high school within Fernside's 23-county service area which spans Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. 

Grants made in September:

Adventure Crew - $25,000.  Clubs at partner schools offer weekend opportunities for camping, rock climbing, skiing, snowboarding, swimming, zip lining and wilderness survival techniques to at risk, marginalized teens.  There is no charge.

Arthritis Foundation, Ohio River Valley Chapter. $25,000.   Kids Get Arthritis Too is a program that includes a JA Days, Fall Family Camp and a JA packet filled with educational materials and other information about resources and support for children with arthritis and their parents.  

Assistance League of Greater Cincinnati, $75,000.  Operation School Bell is a back-to-school program that provides school clothes including uniforms, jackets, pants, shirts, underwear, socks and shoes along with hygiene supplies to about 6,000 children in need at 50 area public and parochial schools.  Employing new efficiencies learned during Covic, items will be boxed and delivered to schools for distribution rather than the former method of distribution at the Assistance League.  

Children’s Theatre - $75,000.  The MainStage season features four productions and about 40 performances that will be seen by an expected 100,000 students, children and families at the Taft Theatre.  Students from low income families attend weekday school performances free or at a nominal charge.

Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, $20,000.  The Community Engagement and Education Program includes partnerships with MY Cincinnati, Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati Children’s, Ronald McDonald House, Joseph House, and Joseph House. 

Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, $50,000 (third of five $50,000 grants 2021-2025).  The Hematology/Oncology Research Department’s Translational Core Laboratory is actively involved in moving cell and gene therapies into clinical trials.  The Foundation has made annual grants of $50,000 in this area since 2000.

Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, $30,000.  Education outreach tours will take productions present 70 performances at 50 area elementary schools, impacting over 15,000 students in grades K through 6.  The focus is on schools that provide little or no access to the arts.  

Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, $30,000.  An in-school education program provides exposure to the works of Shakespeare and other classics through performances and workshops.  Thirty-five matinee performances are offered live at the theatre.  Programming impacts about 40,000 students at schools primarily in underserved urban areas.  

Epilepsy Alliance Ohio, $20,000. A free-of-charge counseling service for children and adolescents strives to identify specific problems that limit overall independence and teach coping and problem-solving skills.

Fernside -  A Center for Grieving Children, $30,000.  School-based grief support counseling features on-site support for students experiencing the loss of a loved one, typically a parent or sibling, and the Crisis Program provides large scale intervention to an entire school, such as coping with the death another student.  About 600 young people are expected to benefit from the free programs.

Friends of Harriet Beecher Stowe House, $10,000.  Youth programming helps young people learn about the Cincinnati years of antislavery author and abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe and the impact and legacy of her most famous anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom's Cabin.  Students are inspired to use the power of their own voice for positive change.

Inner City Youth Opportunities, $20,000.  A free, intensive after-school and summer academic intervention and youth development program helps about 60 inner-city children in kindergarten through Grade 6 develop life and social skills and improve their academic abilities.

New Leaf Kitchen, $30,000.  Root-Up Cooking and Food Education brings in-person, hands-on nutrition education to underserved schoolchildren who in turn can take their learning home to impact their families.  Over 1,650 program participants will attend 66 hands-on cooking and food education classes at inner-city schools.

Our Daily Bread, $25,000.  The soup kitchen and social center provide about 150,000 nutritious meals annually to a largely homeless and hungry clientele.  Volunteers worked 14,310 hours in 2022.

Queen City Book Bank, $30,000.  QCBB’s curated book distribution program provides an innovative solution to a critical literacy resource gap in the community.  An online portal receives, sorts and distributes books to the 35,000 Greater Cincinnati students in grades K-6 who lack consistent access to books.

Ronald McDonald House Charities, $15,000.  The Family Performance and Activities Program provides games, arts and crafts, shows and entertainment – many of them held in the Charles H. Dater Performance Theatre -- for guests at Ronald McDonald House.  This grant will provide performer stipends and cover a portion of administrative costs.

Samaritan Car Clinic, $20,000.  A non-profit vehicle repair shop helps predominantly underserved single mothers maintain access to reliable auto transportation so they can care for and support their children.

Taft Museum of Art, $60,000. Educational programs for students, youth and families include school tours, Artists Reaching Classrooms, Third Sunday Funday, a Girl Scout program, and Summer Art Day Camp.  Activities typically impact nearly 5,000 children and many programs take place in the Taft’s Dater Education Room,

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 3,600 grants totaling over $72 million since its inception in 1985.

#

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.