The Bank of America Charitable Foundation recently announced that five students from the Hartford area were selected to take part in the 2013 Student Leaders program, which awards a total of 225 community-minded high school juniors and seniors from around the country with paid eight-week summer internships at local nonprofit organizations.
Participating students are: Angela Montoya, a Hartford resident and graduate of the Greater Hartford Academy of Math and Science; Derrick Mitchell, a New Britain resident and student at the Sport and Medical Sciences Academy; Victoria Olakojo, a New Britain resident and student at the University High School of Science and Engineering; Tania Banks, a Hartford resident and graduate of the HPHS Academy of Engineering and Green Technology; and Jermaine Laing, a Hartford resident and graduate of Hartford Public High School. All of the students are interning at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Hartford. In addition to the paid internships, the students attended a weeklong Bank of America Student Leadership Summit in Washington, D.C.
Aetna Joins National Effort to Fight High Blood Pressure
The American Medical Group Association recently announced that Aetna awarded $50,000 to help track the progress of Measure Up/Pressure Down, a national campaign to help the more than 30 million people who have uncontrolled high blood pressure. Known as the “silent killer” because the condition often has no symptoms, untreated high blood pressure can lead to heart disease, stroke, kidney failure and other serious health issues. The campaign is led by the American Medical Group Foundation. The campaign’s mission is to ensure by 2016 that 80 percent of high blood pressure patients nationwide have their high blood pressure under control.
Ted Carroll Scholarship Fund Recipients Named
Alice Ferguson, chair of the Hartford Commission on HIV/AIDS, and Anthony Sampson, a recent Bulkeley High School graduate, recently received scholarships from the Ted Carroll Scholarship Fund, established in 2011 to honor Ted Carroll, the president of Leadership Greater Hartford, on his 25th anniversary with the organization. The fund is used to provide scholarships for individuals wishing to participate in Leadership Greater Hartford programs who otherwise would not have the financial support to do so.
Ferguson, infected with AIDS herself, is a Ted Carroll Scholarship recipient in this year’s Quest class. Quest is a yearlong, comprehensive leadership development experience for rising and established professionals from diverse career backgrounds providing opportunities to enhance leadership skills, build professional networks, and serve the community.
Sampson, who is enrolled at UConn this fall, is the first member of his family to attend college. He was the president of Bulkeley’s National Honor Society and the captain of the cross-country team, which he said is thanks to the leadership skills he learned in the Summer Nexus program. Summer Nexus is a weeklong leadership program for urban and suburban youth, grades 10 to 12, that fosters connections and community involvement through interactive workshops and service learning activities.
St. Francis Kids in Safety Seats Initiative Earns $25K Grant
The Violence and Injury Prevention Program, an initiative of the Trauma/Surgery Department at St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center, has received a $25,000 grant from the SBM Charitable Foundation for the Kids In Safety Seats (KISS)-CT program. The grant was awarded by the SBMCF for children living east of the Connecticut River. With the grant, the KISS-CT program will host car seat clinics in Tolland and Windham counties, purchase car seats and safety equipment for families who cannot afford them, conduct bike rodeos (where children learn the safety rules of the road and how to properly wear a helmet), and purchase new multi-sport helmets. The program received a similar grant last year that funded 10 KISS events in Tolland and Windham counties, reaching more than 600 people. At these events 218 car seats were inspected and 121 were replaced through the grant funding. The program also provided more than 450 multi-sport helmets to children last year.
Rite Aid Foundation Awards $15K to RI hospital
The Rite Aid Foundation recently announced a $15,000 grant to the Emma Pendleton Bradley Hospital in East Providence, R.I. The funding will help offset therapy costs for the Healing Arts Program, which provides therapy to young psychiatric or autistic patients in the form of art, dance or theatre expression. Bradley Hospital is the nation’s first psychiatric hospital devoted exclusively to children and adolescents. Rite Aid operates about 270 stores across Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island as well as a distribution center in Dayville.
