Osteopathic Heritage Foundations

$1.2 million Osteopathic Heritage Foundation grant enables Columbus Public Schools to address nutrition and physical activity

The Columbus-based Osteopathic Heritage Foundation (Foundation) is awarding up to $1,225,880 to the Columbus Public Schools (CPS) to begin developing and implementing Healthy & Fit in School and Beyond.

The Healthy & Fit Initiative is a community-wide effort spearheaded by the Foundation to address the findings in the Foundation's 2002 Franklin County Health Assessment that 30% of Columbus children are overweight. An even higher prevalence of overweight was identified among girls, Hispanic and African-American youth, and poor and inner-city children.

This initial one-year funding partnership is designed to improve nutrition and physical activity and provide targeted health services for students, their families and school staff. Its longer-term plans include the following wellness areas:

"This collaboration with the Columbus Public Schools is the next phase and the first implementation grant in the effort initiated by the Foundation in 2003 to reduce the prevalence of overweight children and families in Franklin County," said Rick Vincent, president of the Osteopathic Heritage Foundation. "The Foundation selected public education as its first target, based on a comprehensive plan developed with facilitation by Children's Hunger Alliance and participation from more than 100 community members representing parents, health, government, education, human services, the food industry and other affected groups." ( Healthy & Fit: A Community Action Plan for Franklin County Children & Families can be viewed online at www.osteopathicheritage.org/data.htm).

According to CPS Superintendent Gene T. Harris, Ph.D., the schools will focus on three steps to encourage wellness and behavior change during the next 12 months:

The schools will implement strategies that can have immediate positive effects on nutrition, physical activity and health for the entire school district, said Harris, with nearly 4,000 students and their families and 400 staff expected to benefit from the efforts the first year.

"We are grateful to the Osteopathic Heritage Foundation for taking the lead in addressing this obesity problem and appreciate their willingness to financially support interventions in our district," Harris said. "This collaborative project will allow us to address the barriers to optimum health for the students and families of Columbus Public Schools."

Julie Winland has been appointed by Harris to serve as project director. She brings to this position 20 years of hospital experience, having served as a staff nurse and Post Anesthesia Care Unit nurse, and 10 years experience as a certificated school nurse in CPS. Winland has authored and won nine grants for CPS and has been recognized at the local, state and national levels for her professionalism. She earned the Columbus Council of PTA's Educator of the Year Award in 1999 and 2003, the Ohio Association of School Nurses Pat Bauman Scholarship Award in March 2005 and the National Association of School Nurses Educational Achievement Award in July 2005.

The Osteopathic Heritage Foundation will engage Ohio University's Institute for Local Government and Rural Development to provide an external evaluation of the program's effectiveness. "We expect that successful, documented outcomes from the school system's efforts will result in additional Foundation funding to support CPS' replication of effecive activities in more schools over the ensuing years," Vincent said.

The Foundation has awarded more than $73 million since 1999 to efforts to improve health and quality of life in the community and to further osteopathic medical education and research. Prior to the Healthy & Fit award, the Foundation provided $186,500 to fund various CPS programs. More information about the Foundation can be found online at www.osteopathicheritage.org.

For Immediate Release
April 18, 2005
Dale R. Heffler
(732) 235-3310
d.heffler@umdnj.edu

A gift of $2 million from the Osteopathic Heritage Foundation in Columbus, Ohio, is the first to the UMDNJ-School of Osteopathic Medicine in Stratford, NJ, to qualify for a unique 20 percent matching program offered by the Foundation of UMDNJ, thus increasing the endowment to $2.4 million.

The gift to establish the Osteopathic Heritage Endowed Chair for Primary Care Research at the school will allow further research in the fields of aging and osteopathic principles and practices. Thomas Cavalieri, DO, the founding director of the Center for Aging, and professor and chairman of the department of medicine, will be the first holder of the chair.

"The research advanced through this endowed chair will benefit individuals far beyond New Jersey, advance knowledge throughout the osteopathic profession and lead to improvements in osteopathic healthcare," said Rick Vincent, president and CEO of the Osteopathic Heritage Foundation. "The Foundation is impressed with the design of the endowment activities, the selection of Dr. Cavalieri to lead these activities and the commitments made to the endowment by Foundation of UMDNJ. We are very proud of this partnership."

As part of the newly instituted 20% matching program, an additional $400,000 from the Foundation of UMDNJ will be added to this endowment. Gifts eligible for the match must be endowed gifts of $2 million or more, coming from a single donor, payable within two years and benefiting an individual, department, center or institute that is a UMDNJ entity.

"Through this new program, the Foundation of UMDNJ will be able to create partnerships to benefit the University, the Foundation and residents within our state," said Jim Golubieski, president. "A strong program dedicated to raising money for endowments helps to assure that these programs will continue in perpetuity."

The Center for Aging is a nationally recognized leader in geriatric education and is a unique center of clinical care for the elderly in South Jersey. For the past six years, U.S. News and World Report has ranked it among the top 20 geriatric education programs in the nation.

"Adults over 85 are the fastest-growing segment of our population," explained R. Michael Gallagher, DO, dean of the School of Osteopathic Medicine. "Our healthcare researchers are racing against time to prevent an unfolding crisis in allocation of healthcare funding. This partnership between our school and the Osteopathic Heritage Foundations will allow us to develop clinical research leaders in primary care, which will not only benefit the elderly in South Jersey but across the country as well."

To learn more about the Foundation of UMDNJ matching program, contact James Golubieski, president, toll-free at (866) 44-UMDNJ or via e-mail at golubija@umdnj.edu . For more information about gifts to the School of Osteopathic Medicine, contact June Hampson, PhD, vice president of development, at (856) 566-6300 or via e-mail at hampsoju@umdnj.edu .

To learn more about the Osteopathic Heritage Foundation, visit its web site at www.osteopathicheritage.org.

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Nelsonville, OH -- $50,000 in funding has been awarded to area nonprofits through the Appalachian Ohio Mini-Grants Program, an unprecedented partnership between the Osteopathic Heritage Foundation of Nelsonville (OHFN) and the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio (FAO). The Appalachian Ohio Mini-Grants Program provided grants ranging from $500 -$2,000 to programs addressing quality of life issues within Appalachian Ohio. Foundation spokespersons said 85 grant proposals were received, totaling more than $153,000 in requested funding. Due to the availability of resources, competition for funding was rigorous.

After screening applications for meeting basic grant requirements, the Grants and Programs Advisory Committee of the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio gave priority for funding to applicants in counties that had never applied for funding or submitted competitive proposals to the Foundation. Applications promoting cooperation and collaboration across geographic, municipal and economic boundaries were encouraged. Priority in making final selection for the awards involved multiple considerations: Of special interest were programs exemplifying leadership on behalf of positive change to improve the quality of life for families and children in the communities served and those helping to build capacity for new programs and emerging nonprofit organizations.

The goals for the Appalachian Ohio Mini-Grants program were accomplished with the funding of 27 projects and programs in the region. At minimum, one project or program in each priority county received funding, and because some projects serve multiple counties, each of the 29 Appalachian Ohio counties will benefit from these awards said Foundation spokespersons.

Funding was awarded to a wide variety of projects addressing different needs though out the region. The grantee projects ranged from the purchase of building materials for use in construction of a Habitat for Humanity house, to funding for a summer bread and milk voucher program for needy families. There are projects assisting with program costs for a Diabetes Support Group, and supplying end-of-life training materials to health care providers.

"It is amazing how much a small grant can mean to an organization's progress," said Jennifer Simon, chair of the Grants and Programs Advisory Committee. "We were overwhelmed with an amazing batch of grants and look forward to the success of these projects."

Leslie Lilly, President and CEO of the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio stated, "The sheer volume of applicants along with the amount of dollars being requested is a reflection of the need, interest and opportunities for good works in our communities. We have tremendous opportunities for donor investment throughout Appalachian Ohio that can truly make a positive difference in people's lives."

Terri Donlin, Director of Programs for the Osteopathic Heritage Foundation of Nelsonville said, "Partnership is an essential component of success for both non-profits and foundations in the region. Leveraging our resources has enabled more communities to benefit from the mini-grants program and we look forward to monitoring the success of each."

The Osteopathic Heritage Foundation of Nelsonville and the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio plan to continue the partnership and provide additional grant competitions for area nonprofits. Future grant and scholarship opportunities will be announced on the website for the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio at www.appalachianohio.org.