BoatU.S. Foundation hands out boating safety grants
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The BoatU.S. Foundation for Boating Safety & Clean Water has just awarded over $40,000 in grants to nonprofit groups to spread the message about safe boating practices, it reported in a recent statement.
To encourage excellence in grant performance, these groups will be eligible for a new honor, the Boating Safety Outreach Award, which will be bestowed to the group that completes the most innovative, resourceful and effective grant project.
Groups providing the foundation a final report at the completion of their project will be eligible for the Boating Safety Outreach Award, which gives the winner an additional $500 to use toward their project.
“We’ll evaluate how successful each group was in terms of effectiveness, professionalism, innovation and the use of positive messages,” said Ruth Wood, president of the BoatU.S. Foundation. “This is a way for us to say, ‘job well done’, and supplement a successful program with extra funds.”
The BoatU.S. Foundation, a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit education and research organization, received 100 applications for its 2005 Boating Safety Grant cycle. Of these, 22 groups from Alaska to Georgia were selected to receive grants. With this year’s grant focus on increasing the voluntary use of life jackets among all boaters, eight of the 22 groups included this theme in their grant programs, which range from purchasing life jackets for elementary school instruction to erecting boat ramp signage highlighting the need for life jackets for all aboard. Other grant projects include producing an “emergency procedures” sticker for boaters in four languages, a museum boating safety exhibit, and a 16-page, full color boating safety booklet.
Since 1988, the Foundation has awarded over $575,000 in boating safety grants to fund projects that promote responsible boating at the local level. Funds are derived from the voluntary contributions of the 590,000 members of Boat Owners Association of The United States, (BoatU.S.).
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