Press Release

Teagle Foundation grants to help disadvantaged young people go to college

For immediate release:

The Teagle Foundation, a New York based philanthropy long active in support of higher education, has established a new program to help disadvantaged young people in the metropolitan area go to college and succeed once there. Thirteen community service organizations were selected from a field of over one hundred on the basis of their track record and promise. The new grants, totaling $280,000, are designed primarily to allow the organizations to expand and improve their services to bright students in low income settings.

"There is great talent among the students in every neighborhood of New York, but in many settings the resources to develop that talent simply are not there" said W. Robert Connor, president of the Foundation. "Young people throughout the city deserve the chance to go to a good college and the preparation and support they need to succeed once there. By aligning our grants to community service program with the Teagle Foundation's long standing mission of supporting excellence in higher education we hope to make a difference in the lives of many young people in New York."

Connor admitted that the Foundation was surprised by the response to the Request for Proposals it sent last fall to New York City organizations serving disadvantaged young people in New York. "We didn't realize how many organizations were trying to help these young people, or how great their needs were. We expected a few dozen proposals; we got more than 100, most of them of real merit. There's a crying need to supplement the efforts of hard-pressed public schools with after school and summer programs, good advising, campus visits and mentoring. These organizations make a little go a long way through the imaginativeness of their programs and the devotion of their staffs. We wish everyone in New York could see what we have seen in working with these organizations."

The Foundation's Board of Director, chaired by John Chalsty, Chairman of Muirfield Capital Management, approved thirteen grants at a recent meeting. The five largest of these ($40,000 each) are specifically for college preparatory programs, while eight smaller grants ($10,000 each) are unrestricted in their use, though made to organizations with significant experience in college preparatory work. All thirteen organizations will be in discussion with the Foundation as we continue to develop our work in this area. They are:

The Boys' Club of New York
Citizens Advice Bureau
Community for Education Foundation / Overcoming Obstacles
East Side House Settlement
East Harlem Tutorial Program
Groundwork
Harlem Educational Activities Fund
Jacob A Riis Neighborhood Settlement House
Leadership Enterprise for a Diverse America
Prep for Prep
Project Reach Youth
Sponsors for Educational Opportunity
Union Settlement House

The Teagle Foundation was established in 1944 by Walter C. Teagle, the president of Standard Oil. It has supported a wide range of activities, always with special attention to strengthening higher education and expanding access to it.

For more information, contact Donna Heiland, Vice President for Programs:
212-373-1978 or dheiland@teaglefoundation.org.

Web site: www.teaglefoundation.org

04/04/2005