Published: Monday, October 6, 2008
Providence Business News

BRENDA DANN-MESSIER, president and CEO of Dorcas Place, and CHRISTOPHER BUCHANAN, senior manager for public affairs at Wal-Mart, joined adult-education students to thank the Wal-Mart Foundation for their gift of $25,000 to support adult education and work force-literacy programs at Dorcas Place.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. announced nine new Wal-Mart Foundation grants totaling $225,000 to nonprofit organizations in Rhode Island. Nine $25,000 grants will support a wide range of community- and social-service programs that benefit children, adults and working families throughout the state in areas such as heating assistance, quality health care, after-school activities, environmental initiatives and adult literacy.

The nine grant-recipient organizations and their mission on behalf of the grant are: Save The Bay, to help increase the amount of Rhode Island neighborhood and beach cleanups; Rhode Island Quality Institute, to support the adoption of electronic health records in community-based health clinics; Rhode Island Afterschool Plus Alliance, to increase after-school programs for K-12 students; St. Joseph Hospital, to help fund a wide variety of health initiatives, including free dental exams for elementary students; Keep the Heat On, to help fund home heating costs for low-income families this winter; Crossroads Rhode Island, to support housing and job assistance to the homeless; Dorcas Place, to support literacy programs; Rhode Island Family Literacy Initiative; and YMCA, to help fund and facilitate a program to educate families on exercise and nutrition.