The Lauren Dunne Astley Memorial Fund is pleased to announce the recipients of its third annual mini-grant program to fund dynamic projects promoting the three arenas of its mission: Effective Teen Relationships & Violence Prevention, the Arts, and Community Service.
In Lauren’s spirit and memory, small grants have recently been awarded to individuals and groups with dynamic project ideas in the above areas.
A total of 10 project proposals were awarded mini-grants:
- Production of the 10th anniversary of Opera del West, the opera in residence at the Center for Arts in Natick
- The Akaa Project’s creative arts programming and upcycled library furniture construction for its small village school in rural Ghana, an area previously lacking access to education
- Collaboration with Jane Doe, Inc. and others supporting the traveling exhibit “Displays of Character: Men Reimagining Manhood” toward ending gender-based violence
- Girls’ LEAP Summer Mentor Program in Dorchester focused on leadership training and effective relationships
- In support of the creation of intergenerational connections through the Golden Tones’ collaboration with area high school chorus singers
- Development of a teacher’s guide and curriculum materials on teen dating violence prevention using a comic book format to reach teenagers
- Support of Wayland High School Innovation Realization Lab, the new makerspace where students in a class pursue creative functional art projects
- Sponsorship of a student-initiated, professionally-produced album by all three A Capella groups at Wayland High School
- Funding for two college students from Wayland to produce a documentary film about a Bolivian wildlife refuge and its environmental and social impacts
- Support for The Second Step’s residential and community-based programs: a ground-breaking initiative to provide adolescent men and women impacted by domestic violence with tools to change the direction of their lives
