New grant will aid middle schoolers

$65K from local funders to support programs for kids during ‘critical years’

A group of area funders has come together to create a $65,000 “first-of-its-kind” grant to benefit middle school initiatives.

Joanna Colangelo, grants and community outreach advisor for the Albuquerque Community Foundation, said a group of 13 businesses and nonprofits of the NM Funders Collaborative network have each pitched in $5,000 to create the inaugural Educate 2 Elevate collaborative grant.

“We realized that, individually, there’s only so much we can do with the limited resources that we have,” Colangelo said during an informational session for interested applicants on Friday morning at the Albuquerque Journal Auditorium. “But together, if we all put in a little bit of money, we can make some high impact grant-making.”

The grant is intended to support initiatives by nonprofit organizations and public education institutions that serve middle schoolers and their families in Bernalillo, Sandoval, Valencia and/or

Torrance counties.

“Recent data shows that middle school students in New Mexico rank among the nation’s lowest in math and literacy proficiency,” said Jennifer Riordan of Wells Fargo, one of the grant contributors. “These critical years serve as the bridge between when a student may plant the seeds for a successful path in high school, potentially leading to college and/or career readiness, or when a student may fall behind and struggle to continue their education.”

Applications for the Elevate 2 Educate grant are due on Nov. 6.

More information and applications are available at www. sharenm.org.