Each grant – provided by the JPMorgan Chase Foundation – supports programs designed to address community issues in the Bronx related to workforce development, educational enrichment, and access to arts and cultural activities, with a focus on the environment:
• The Bronx River Art Center, Inc. (BRAC): The BRAC offers an after-school art program that educates the youth of the community about the value of environmental preservation and engages them through cultural and recreational activities. The grant from Chase supports a series of teacher-training workshops where teaching artists will be coached on BRAC’s interdisciplinary curriculum and how to adapt it to all after-school classes.
• Bronx River Alliance, Inc.: The Bronx River Education Program enables community-based educators and classroom teachers to use the Bronx River as an outdoor classroom and provide training, curriculum consulting, lesson plans, equipment, supplies and in-field support.
• Rocking the Boat, Inc.: The grant from Chase supports the expansion of the On-Water Classroom Program to middle school students in Hunts Point. This program allows students to use the Bronx River as their classroom in order to teach them about the social and natural science of the river, while becoming involved in real-life environmental restoration work.
• Sustainable South Bronx, Inc.: Chase will provide funding for the Bronx Environmental Stewardship Training Program (BEST), which trains residents for the new green-collar workforce. This program creates job opportunities for residents, while improving the quality of life, air and water in the Bronx.
• Wildlife Conservation Society – Bronx Zoo: The Science Jump-Start program provides underserved public schools in the Bronx with science education classes to increase students’ knowledge about conservation.
“Chase is committed to investing in best-in-class non-profit organizations that are embedded in the community and offer programs that address critical issues in the Bronx,” said Gayle Jennings-O’Byrne, vice president – Upper Manhattan and the Bronx for the JPMorgan Chase Foundation.
