The John Rex Endowment recently announced the Wake to Wellness Grants Program to support nutrition and fitness improvements in Wake County elementary schools. Through this grants program, the Endowment will provide $450,000 to Wake County Public School System elementary schools to implement programs that help meet the requirements of school wellness policies.

These grants will be awarded through a competitive application process, and awards will be given to approximately 15 elementary schools for up to $10,000 per year for three years ($30,000 per school). Programs will begin on July 2, 2007.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention will be responsible for the administration of these grants funds. The official Request for Applications will be released on January 8, 2007. Applicants can find useful nutrition and fitness resources and frequently asked questions at the official Wake to Wellness webpage. [more]

The John Rex Endowment, the N.C. Division of Public Health and the N.C. Public Health Foundation are pleased to announce the Active Community and Neighborhood Grant Program for 2007-2010. The Physical Activity and Nutrition Branch in the N.C. Division of Public Health and the N.C. Public Health Foundation will be responsible for the administration of these grant funds, provided by the John Rex Endowment. The Active Community and Neighborhood Grant Program will provide funding to five local communities in Wake County dedicated to increasing physical activity in community settings for children, youth and their families.

These grants will be awarded through a competitive application process to community groups in Wake County to support implementation of the goals and objectives of Eat Smart, Move More: North Carolina's Plan to Prevent Overweight, Obesity, and Related Chronic Disease (ESMM Five Year Plan) and the Rex Endowment Overweight Initiative. The ESMM Five Year Plan can be found at EatSmartMoveMoreNC.

The John Rex Endowment invests in the development and support of activities, programs and organizations that improve the health of underserved people in Wake and surrounding counties. One specific focus of the John Rex Endowment is the Childhood Overweight Initiative which provides funding to: Increase physical activity in school and community settings for children and youth.

A description of the eligibility requirements and the expectations of the grantees can be found in the RFA (Request for Applications, click to download PDF). The letter of intent is due January 5, 2007 and the grant application is due on February 8, 2007 by 5:00 PM. Please contact Cameron Graham at Cameron.graham@ncmail.net with any questions.

The 2005 Progress Report of the John Rex Endowment is online. This year's report focuses on Wake County's healthcare environment for access. You will find stories of individuals with complex health situations and how they deal with a complex system.
Download the PDF report [1.1mb]

The John Rex Endowment recently awarded over $2.1 million in support of seven local agencies whose purpose touches the lives of at-risk children. The Endowment's mission to reach out and improve the health of Wake County's underserved children continues to be met through varied projects and strategies.

• Community Partnerships Inc. (CPI) received $303,990 over a 36-month period to increase availability and quality of after school and summer time community recreational opportunities for school age youth with cognitive, behavioral and emotional and physical disabilities.
• Inter-Faith Food Shuttle received $58,000 over a 12-month period to expand the Summer Food Service Program for children who participate in free and reduced lunch programs during the school year.
• Interact received $359,495 over a 36-month period to consolidate services and develop a new family-centered model for meeting health and behavioral needs of children and mothers.
• Rex Healthcare received $325,939 over a 24-month period to improve the ability of children with asthma to manage their disease. The program works with school nurses in 120 elementary and middle schools in Wake County.
• Wake County Human Services received $441,562 over a 36-month period to promote the use of dental services by expectant mothers to improve birth outcomes and maximize visits to dental clinic by children from birth to age 3.
• WakeMed received $614,822 over a 36-month period to enhance interventions for children with pre-diabetes and diabetes with direct physician care services.
• A planning grant of $100,000 was approved for the New School to explore the feasibility of a day school for medically fragile children.

We encourage you to review the complete list of projects we have funded and of agencies the Endowment has had the opportunity to work with. In our 5 years, the Endowment has funded 38 projects for a total of almost $12M in Wake County to address children's health needs.

The Wake County Child Health report is a project of the Endowment and the Action for Children NC (North Carolina Child Advocacy Institute) to monitor indicators of children's health and make that data readily available to agencies, health services providers, planners and policy makers. This report and to-date has influenced Endowment funding in dental health, diabetes and vision.
Download the PDF report [478kb]

The NCSU Institute for Nonprofits research project Building a Child Health Collaborative: A Network Analysis is completed. Agency opinions and concerns related to referral of children with needs were studied.
Download the Executive Summary PDF [132kb]
Download the full PDF report [209kb]

Mr. Larry Barbour and Judge Robert Rader joined the Endowment board of directors.