Patron Foundation

Alexandria, VA., October 11, 2006 - The Patron Foundation is pleased to announce its upcoming “Culture for Kids” field trip grant program. Culture for Kids’ mission is to make field trips to arts and cultural institutions part of every child's educational experience, and thereby increase cultural opportunities for children beyond the classroom.

The program makes funds directly available to museums, zoos, aquariums and performing arts organizations to support education and community outreach initiatives for school-age children, and through schools and civic organizations, subsidizes the cost for schoolchildren and youth groups to take field trips to those organizations. Culture for Kids will fund grant recipients up to $10 per student to pay for the cost of field trip admission and transportation. The program will be available to arts and cultural organizations in communities nationwide during the upcoming school year.

The need for field trip funding has never been greater, as the nation’s arts and cultural institutions now play an increasingly important role in educating our children. For example, every year science centers alone provide school outreach and field trip programs to 39 million children, while more than 9 million students enjoy educational programs at zoos and aquariums. According to the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services, museum budgets dedicated to education increased four-fold since 1996. As a result, more than 90% of museums now offer docent programs and specialized tours for school groups, spending over $1 billion a year to provide 18 million instructional hours for educational programs.

However school budget cuts mean fewer children can take advantage of these opportunities. Over the past several years, tight budgets have led to the reduction or elimination of arts programs in many school districts. Field trips to community arts and cultural organizations have been especially hard hit. As a result, parents are now being asked to finance programs traditionally paid for by school districts. In response, the Culture for Kids program is focused on expanding our children’s access to cultural opportunities and providing increased funding for museum education programs.

About PatronPartner

The Patron Foundation’s [501(c)(3) pending] mission is to expand cultural opportunities for children by making field trips to arts and cultural institutions part of every child's educational experience. By helping increase attendance and earned income, the Patron Foundation also strengthens museums, zoos, aquariums and performing arts organizations financially without compromising their public service missions.

Funding for the Patron Foundation comes through the Cultural Cause Marketing programs of the PatronPartner Company and its national coalition of corporate business partners. By transforming philanthropic decisions into business marketing decisions that drive revenue, build corporate reputation and increase customer loyalty far more cost effectively than either traditional media or sponsorship, these programs have the potential to dramatically expand the number of companies that support the arts — enabling arts and cultural organizations of any size to generate new sources of long-term funding and significant increases in corporate contributions.

To learn more about PatronPartner and Culture for Kids, please visit www.patronfoundation.org or contact us at (703) 740-3296.

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