Arthur Blank Family Foundation

ATLANTA, January 9, 2008 - The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation today announced it awarded $2.7 million in grants during the fourth quarter of 2007, bringing the foundation's total charitable contributions to over $19 million for the year.

Founded in 1995, The Blank Family Foundation focuses on early childhood development, education beyond high school, preserving greenspace and sustaining the arts, primarily in Atlanta. Foundation Chairman Arthur M. Blank is owner & CEO of the Atlanta Falcons and Georgia Force. He co-founded The Home Depot, the world's largest home improvement retailer, in 1978 and retired from the company as co-chairman in 2001. Through the foundation and personal giving, Blank's lifetime charitable giving now exceeds $250 million.

Better Beginnings

During the fourth quarter, The Blank Family Foundation awarded grants of more than $830,000 through its Better Beginnings initiative, which encourages stronger learning and caregiving environments for children from birth to age five. Grants were made to the following community partners:

Quality Care for Children - $600,000 (over two years) to support families in crisis situations needing emergency child care and case management services; offer play groups and one-on-one sessions for families; and provide training, on-site consultation, and support for family, friend, and neighbor care.
VOICES for Georgia’s Children (VGC) - $225,000 (over three years) to support the implementation of a state-wide policy agenda that will improve current state policies regarding safety, health and school readiness for young children. VGC will also develop a state-wide advocacy coalition; and communications efforts that will promote children’s issues to the community and policy makers.
Georgia Budget and Policy Institute - $5,000 to support the printing and distribution of the Georgia Working Poor Families Project’s assessment report, an in-depth analysis of the conditions of working families; and state policies and program operations that help workers advance and achieve economic security.

Pathways To Success

Pathways to Success was created in 2004 to expand educational opportunities by providing high school students the support they need to pursue postsecondary education. In Atlanta, the Pathways to Success partnership provides in-school and out-of-school support programs for students who attend Atlanta's New Schools at Carver - the Southeast's first “small high school” campus. The Foundation is also identifying opportunities to support programming that serves all Atlanta Public School students.

100 Black Men of Atlanta - $380,000 (over three years) to provide college and career preparation through mentoring, tutoring and test preparation for students at The New Schools at Carver, The New Schools at Therrell and Douglass, Washington, North Atlanta, Southside, Grady, and Mays high schools.
Atlanta Education Fund (AEF) - $300,000 to support the College and Career Access and Success Collaborative. The grant will help AEF research, coordinate and target community nonprofits focused on college and career preparation and access.

Inspiring Spaces

Through Inspiring Spaces, The Blank Family Foundation is working to develop a system of great parks in Atlanta through land acquisition, trail development, park advocacy and park improvement by making a series of investments in support of the Atlanta BeltLine, a proposed corridor of trails, transit and parks that would connect 45 neighborhoods. Organizations received $1.7 million in grants through the initiative in December. Inspiring Spaces grants are:

City of Atlanta, Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs - $600,000 to install an artistic pool fence, a central promenade with benches and a picnic gazebo to enhance safety and aesthetics in Rosa Burney Park, located in Mechanicsville.
City of Atlanta, Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs - $600,000 to install a water play area to replace a currently unused pool at Arthur Langford Park. Langford Park is located in the Joyland neighborhood.
Georgia Conservancy - $20,000 to support Blueprints Westside, a planning effort designed to engage the community in addressing issues of importance in their neighborhoods. The program encourages residents to create change through establishing an overall vision and implementation strategy to improve their quality of life.