Press Release
19 Arizona nonprofits receive $1,570,200 Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust grants
July 17, 2008
(Phoenix)–The Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust awarded $1,570,200 to 19 Arizona nonprofit organizations July 17, 2008. In keeping with its 10-year tradition, the Trust held a presentation at the location of a former grant recipient. The Heard Museum, 2301 N. Central Avenue, hosted the check presentation at 3:30 p.m. Recipients began arriving at 3 p.m. for refreshments and an informal reception with Trustees, staff and representatives from organizations receiving grants.
During her lifetime, Nina Mason Pulliam dedicated her assets and business expertise to organizations helping people in need, protecting animals and nature and enriching community life in her hometown of Phoenix, said Frank E. Russell, Trustee chairman. Since the Trust began its grantmaking in 1998, it has awarded more than $74 million to 340 Arizona nonprofit organizations.
The Trust continues Nina’s legacy and belief that we all have a responsibility to give back to our community. Nina called Phoenix and Indianapolis home, which is the reason her Trust divides its grantmaking evenly between organizations in these cities, Russell added.
The Trust is pleased to continue to build on its legacy of community grantmaking through the vital work of the Trust family of grantees, five of which are first-time recipients this round, said Harriet Ivey, Trust president and CEO.
In the first 10 years of its 50-year life, the Trust has evolved into a strong resource for nonprofit groups and has focused on building relationships with organizations that are working to assist those in need, with an emphasis on encouraging self-sufficiency. The Trust serves individuals, including the elderly and disabled, women, children and their families, Trustee Carol P. Schilling said.
Helping People in Need grant recipients are: Advocates for the Disabled, Inc., ACCEL (Arizona Centers for Comprehensive Education and Life-skills), Arizona Foundation for Eye Health, Arizona Kidney Foundation, Arizona’s Children Association, Association for Supportive Child Care, Inc., Beatitudes Center D.O.A.R., Inc., Child & Family Resources, Inc., Eight/KAET at Arizona State University, First United Methodist Church of Tempe, Homeward Bound, Lions Camp Tatiyee, Inc., Neighborhood Christian Clinic, Inc., Sojourner Center, Southwest Human Development and The Wellness Community-Central Arizona.
Throughout her life, Nina supported efforts to protect animals of all kinds, and was an early conservationist for her beloved lands and habitats of Arizona, Schilling said. Protecting Animals and Nature grant recipients are: Altered Tails, Arizona Open Land Trust, Inc. and Grand Canyon Trust
During her life, Nina brought the dream of higher education to many. She created college scholarship programs for newspaper employees’ children and newspaper carriers (during the days of carrier boys and girls who made neighborhood rounds on bicycle, delivering daily subscriptions of Pulliam newspapers to doorsteps). She also quietly funded college tuition for children whom she had met and whose families could not afford the cost of higher education, Trustee Nancy M. Russell explained. The Nina Mason Pulliam Legacy Scholars program continues Nina’s desire to bring the experience of a college education to those who are overlooked by traditional scholarship programs.
Nina Scholars are 25 years or older with dependents, college-age students and adults with physical disabilities, or college-age youth raised in the foster care system and are self-supporting. The eighth cohort of 23 students will begin their studies this August at Arizona State University and Maricopa Community Colleges.
Since the Nina Scholars program began in 2001, it has funded 193 scholarships for Arizona residents, and through May 2008, there are 48 graduates. Nina believed in education’s power to transform lives, and our Nina Scholars are testimony to this, Russell added.
To receive additional Nina Scholars program information, visit the Trust Scholar page or contact: Afsaneh Nahavandi, nina.scholars@asu.edu at ASU, 602-496-0404; or
Kortney Smith, nina.scholars@domail.maricopa.edu at Maricopa Community Colleges, 480-731-8619.
The Trust, which also makes grants in Indiana, had approximately $390 million in assets as of May 31, 2008.
The next preliminary application deadline for nonprofit organizations applying to the Trust for funding is September 5, 2008. Preliminary applications are available at the Trust’s web site: www.ninapulliamtrust.org.