Bayer fund grants $20K to Puerto Rico NGOs for 2nd consecutive year
Local agricultural biotechnology company, Bayer Crop Science Puerto Rico, through its Bayer Fund Grants program, recently awarded local grant donations to local non-governmental organizations focused on STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) programs for the second consecutive year.
The company awarded a total of $20,000 to the Sor Isolina Ferré Centers (CSIF, in Spanish) and the Puerto Rico Technoeconomic Corridor (PRTEC).
“Our corporate slogan of ‘Science for a better life’ has many applications, all of them with a shared result, which is to inspire science-inclined individuals to share their knowledge and abilities so we can all build a better world,” said Miguel A. Pereira, Bayer Crop Science Puerto Rico government affairs lead.
“We’re happy to support our strategic partners in their efforts to provide the knowledge, tools and opportunities to our future scientists through these education programs,” he said.
The $10,000 grant for the CSIF will continue to fund the “Science for All Program,” which aims to inspire curiosity and motivate students to explore science principles and career opportunities in scientific fields.
Through the program, the CSIF will once again send its Science Mobile, the center’s traveling laboratory, to low income communities in the towns of Juana Diaz and Santa Isabel.
“Education is one of the pillars of our vision was to eradicate inequality and provide new opportunities for disadvantaged people and communities,” said Yolanda González-Laboy, the CSIF’s director of prevention programs.
“Through programs like ‘Science for All’ and the Science Mobile students of all ages discover, or rediscover, their passion for science and experience first-hand what opportunities wait for them in scientific fields. We’re grateful to continue working together with Bayer on efforts such as this,” she said
Meanwhile, the $10,000 the Bayer Fund awarded to PRTEC will be used for Finca Explora’s “Tecno Jóvenes” program, which consists of a series of virtual teaching modules of STEM courses to be offered on Saturdays for high school students of outstanding academic achievement, both of the public and private systems.
“Our vision at Finca Explora has always been to be the meeting point for agricultural technology and industry, to provide an agricultural platform to contact all players in the industry, from business incubation and acceleration, to education programs,” said Nelson Perea, executive director of PRTEC.
“Our ‘Tecno Jóvenes’ program enhances our education efforts to include STEM courses as the basis of agricultural science, while following recommended physical distancing guidelines. On behalf of PRTEC and Finca Explora, I thank Bayer for their continued support,” he said.
In Puerto Rico, through the Bayer Fund, the company had consistently supported local non-governmental organizations focused on STEM, nutrition, and agricultural sciences programs through these grants.
Some of the local programs that had received the support of the Bayer Fund include the Centros Sor Isolina Ferré’s ‘Science for All’ Program, the Puerto Rico Technoeconomic Corridor’s AgroVentures Program, Centro Madre Dominga Casa Belén, Starbright Pals, and United Way of Puerto Rico.
