This year, the Mueller Foundation awarded $50,000 to help support Austin Independent School District (AISD) school children in grades four through eight in central east Austin. These four grants, each ranging from $10,000 to $15,000, are the first competitive grants awarded by the Mueller Foundation, a philanthropic fund formed through the successful redevelopment at Mueller.
Mueller Foundation Executive Director Lee Thomson announced the four not-for-profit organizations awarded the grants approved by the foundation’s local board of directors. The grants include:
- Breakthrough for partially funding 25 seventh and eighth grade students at Kealing Middle School to become first-generation graduates;
- Camp Fire USA for funding 96 pupils from Maplewood and Blanton elementary schools and 60 adults for one year who engage in the outdoor program called Kids Unplugged;
- Communities in Schools (CIS) to help fund at-risk intervention for 115 Kealing Middle School students;
- Theatre Action Project (TAP) to fund Learning Through the Arts for 310 students at Maplewood Elementary School.
Mueller Foundation Board Chair Greg Weaver noted that the foundation’s education grants help several proven organizations working to close the opportunity gap for AISD students.
“We know that 70 percent of low-income kids do not have access to after-school programming,” Weaver said. “The Mueller Foundation is able to help kids by lending needed financial support to programs proven to help close those gaps in urban neighborhoods and schools.”
Formed by Catellus Development as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization with funds managed by the Austin Community Foundation, the Mueller Foundation exists to sustain affordable housing at the Mueller neighborhood with an emphasis on quality education and sustainability in central and northeast Austin schools and neighborhoods.
For more information about the Mueller Foundation, visit www.muellerfoundation.org.
