Ford awards $40K in environmental grants
Waldo Galan, regional director for Puerto Rico, the Caribbean and Central America Ford International Business Development, hands out one of the 10 environmental grants to a student participating in a program in Orocovis.
Ten local nonprofit organizations will be able to continue their efforts to improve their community’s education and environment with the help of Ford Motor Company, which on Wednesday distributed among them a total of $40,000 in grants through its Conservation and Environmental Program.
This year’s recipient list includes projects proposed by schools, environmental centers and a number of community groups, namely: the Botijas I Community School in Orocovis, which received the highest award at $6,000; the Agriculture Club at the Rafael Martínez Nadal school; the San Salvador Organized Community; the Future Farmers of America; the Niños Uniendo al Mundo Ecological School in Caguas; the Agricultural Education students of the Manuel Mendía Moret School in Patillas; Silent Grace; Santa Ana Environmental Center; and the Paz de Cristo Home.
“This program is one of many initiatives that Ford carries out to minimize the environmental footprint and contribute to a better quality of life,” said Waldo Galan, regional director for Puerto Rico, the Caribbean and Central America Ford International Business Development. “Environmental conservation is an integral part of our business and we are aware of it, both in product development and the execution of our community efforts.”
This year Ford celebrates a decade of its environmental grant program, which was created in 2001 to help individuals and nonprofit organizations on the island who donate their time and effort to preserve the environmental wellbeing of their communities. Since launching the program, Ford has awarded more than $400,000 in grants to more than 60 local organizations to promote their environmental initiatives.
The company’s donations have benefited projects in school and community gardens, scientific research, environmental education map designs, media campaigns on environmental issues, development of organic farms, breeding of endangered species and conservation of sand dunes, among others.
This year, the projects selected to receive grants cover a wide range of areas related to environmental conservation and seek to address issues such as environmental education and soil conservation, energy savings, and conservation of flora and fauna, among others. The projects will also have an impact on different groups: school children, rural community residents at the center of the island, and tourists and visitors to the island’s natural reserves.
As a company, Ford runs several environmental initiatives under the “Green management” umbrella. The company is developing multiple technologies to find affordable solutions that create products with greater efficiency, and that consumers can really value and can acquire.
