News Release

Permian Basin Area Foundation awards $445,235 in TRIAD Fund grants

January 4, 2008 – MIDLAND, Texas – Permian Basin Area Foundation has awarded $740,235 in grants to West Texas nonprofits serving needs of American military personnel who have served in Iraq or Afghanistan and their families. The grants are from the Foundation’s $5 million TRIAD Fund, established with resources from the Iraq-Afghanistan Deployment Impact Fund of the California Community Foundation.

The goal of the TRIAD Fund initiative is to expand assistance to American military service members and their families who have unmet needs due to death, injury, or other physical or mental detriment, or financial hardship, as a result of service in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Permian Basin Area Foundation announced its most recent grants to four organizations: “We are extremely grateful to those who make these grants possible – the donors who give of their resources to create the permanent, endowed funds for helping other people whom they will never even know,” Mrs. Grace King, chair of the Foundation’s grants committee said.

“Our communities are richly blessed by the work of nonprofit organizations all around us… they add significantly to the quality of life in our region,” said Mrs. King. “We thank the volunteers and professionals of these organizations for their personal dedication and passion for serving others.”

• The Children’s Grief Center of El Paso to assist with outreach to families who have children in need of counseling who have lost a parent as a result of conflicts in Iraq or Afghanistan. www.cgcelpaso.org
  
  
• Military Child Education Coalition to assist with public engagement of volunteers in area communities to help children deal with the injury, illness, or death of a parent in Iraq or Afghanistan. www.militarychild.org
  
  
• National Center for Human Performance to determine feasibility of delivering post acute cognitive rehabilitation services to veterans in West Texas through videoconferencing with vocational rehabilitation counselors
  
  
• West Texas Family and Community Services to fund services through several Amarillo area organizations including counseling, educational and employment assistance, and child care.

Under the banner of the “TRIAD Fund,” Permian Basin Area Foundation is responding to funding requests in the western part of Texas in collaboration with The Dallas Foundation and San Antonio Community Foundation, which make grants available for services in north-eastern and south-eastern Texas, respectively.

The Foundations seek applications from qualified tax-exempt, nonprofit organizations serving active duty, reserve, National Guard, and veterans of the ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Research indicates such needs include assistance with basic necessities – housing, food, clothing, and utility bills; issues related to children and youth; counseling; medical, legal, and financial management assistance; and urgent/critical issues – death in the family, emergency travel, and crisis referrals. Grant criteria and application information is available at www.triadfund.org.