Our mission is to empower children and adults with developmental disabilities to achieve their potential based on personal choices, abilities and interests...

For more information contact:
Mellissa Lang
Director of Marketing and Public Affairs
phone: 914.949.9300,
ext. 4618
fax: 914.997.2985
or 914.428.0322
mlang@westchesterarc.org

Westchester Arc
The Gleeson-Israel Gateway Center
265 Saw Mill River Road
Hawthorne, NY 10532
914.949.9300
info@westchesterarc.org

24-hour
Crisis Intervention:
914.949.8200

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Press Release

Kresge Foundation Awards $450,000

Challenge Grant to Westchester Arc

WHITE PLAINS, NY – October 25, 2007 –The Kresge Foundation has awarded a $450,000 challenge grant to Westchester Arc, to be applied toward the agency’s first capital campaign. The campaign is raising funds to help pay for construction of a facility in Hawthorne, New York, and to build a Fund for the Future that will safeguard services that are underfunded by the government. The Kresge grant stipulates that Westchester Arc raise the balance of its capital campaign goal—an additional $982,000--by January 1, 2009, in order to receive the award. It is an “all or nothing” challenge.

 

Westchester Arc is the largest agency in the county serving children and adults who have disabilities such as autistic spectrum disorders, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy and learning disabilities. The Kresge Foundation’s mission is to strengthen an organization’s future fundraising development by taking advantage of the unique opportunities afforded by a capital campaign.

 

“Your compelling plan to sustain the higher levels of giving after the campaign concludes will help strengthen your organization well into the future,” said Rip Rapson, president and CEO of The Kresge Foundation.

 

Westchester Arc is one of 84 non-profit organizations recently selected by The Kresge Foundation’s board of trustees to receive a total of $45.5 million. The agency was chosen from thousands of applicants. “The Kresge Foundation’s grant is highly competitive. It is unique in recognizing the importance of a capital campaign, and Westchester Arc is very thankful to receive it,” comments Beth Beck, capital campaign co-chair.

 

“The grant has inspired us to make more direct connections with our stakeholders and to reach out to new donors. The goal is to increase the agency’s private donor base, which will support future needs,” adds Anne Sweazey, executive director of the Westchester Arc Foundation.

 

The Kresge Foundation is a national foundation with $3 billion in assets. Through its grant making programs, The Kresge Foundation seeks to strengthen non-profit organizations by catalyzing their growth, connecting them to their stakeholders and challenging greater support through grants.

Established over 55 years ago, Westchester Arc has long advocated community inclusion for individuals with developmental disabilities, consistent with personal wishes and capabilities. The agency is funded through both public and private means.

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