Welcome to Connections! We have much to celebrate with this issue.

Spring is traditionally a season of rebirth and capstone events, and it certainly was for the Trust and two of its legacy grantees. In May, the Heard Museum in Phoenix reopened its signature permanent exhibition, "HOME: Native People in the Southwest," which resides in the Nina Mason Pulliam Pavilion. In June, the Trustees participated in the opening of the Nina Mason Pulliam Education Center in the expanded Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art in downtown Indianapolis.

You might be wondering, "What is a legacy grantee?" When the Trust began grantmaking in late 1998, the Trustees established this designation for a small group of grant recipients that had been special interests of Mrs. Pulliam during her lifetime. In her memory, the Trust made grants of up to $1.5 million to capstone capital projects that now carry her name or will in the next few years. While Mrs. Pulliam was a quiet philanthropist, the Trustees believe that it is appropriate to honor her memory in this way.

In 2001, the Trust extended the concept to include the establishment of the Nina Mason Pulliam Legacy Scholars program as a living memorial. Education, both formal and informal, was very important to Mrs. Pulliam. She believed it was the single most important life goal to achieve in order to better one's station in life and to become self-sufficient.

This past May, we celebrated the graduation of 19 Nina Scholars from our four participating community colleges and universities - Maricopa County Community Colleges, Arizona State University, Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) and Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana - Central Indiana. Moreover, the cycle continues. In late spring, the school advisory councils selected the 40 new Nina Scholars who comprise cohort V. These scholars will join the 99 remaining previous cohort members for the 2005-2006 academic year.

Summer is a time for children to have fun and experience more of the wonders of the world around them. In Indianapolis and in Marion County this summer, nearly 32,000 young people will be participating in 146 different programs made possible through the collaboration of 12 area funders that comprise the Summer Youth Program Fund. This year, the Nina Mason Pulliam Trust is supporting 25 programs, the majority of which involve environmental education and recreation.

We hope you enjoy reading more about these legacy-building activities, as well as learning about our most recent regular grants cycle awardees that we announced earlier this month.

We continue to appreciate the many comments from our expanding family of readers, and we encourage your questions and suggestions for future issues. Please contact us at Connections.