At the February 23rd meeting of the ND Alumni Club of SI, Whitehouse Foundation president Peter Whitehouse presented a foundation update.

Whitehouse informed the club that during the months between the two grant review committee meetings (held in the fall and spring), grant requests continued to be filed. These requests are usually presented to the committee for review, via e-mail. Whitehouse spoke of two unusually large submissions. One was for $5,000 dedicated to the adaptive recreation field trips for Staten Island HS students in need. (Update: the results of this submission are posted above in a detailed thank you letter from the teachers of Tottenville High School.)

The committee voted to grant this request. A second submission, currently being considered, is also for $5,000. It comes from Virtual Enterprises International. These monies would be used to supplement the needs of qualified HS students involved in the entrepreneur program.

Whitehouse commented on having listened to several Virtual Enterprise participants make presentations at a fund-raiser. They impressed him with their newly acquired poise and capability recently gained from participation in the program.

Also noted, was the approval of a final grant, the kind of which is more typical. A request for funds was made for an athlete whose parents are disabled. as a result they were unable to pay expenses required for him to play on his school’s baseball team.

A Q & A followed for a short time before the report was concluded.