St. Vincent de Paul | Louisville

The Community Foundation of Louisville (CFL) has awarded the first grants from its new Louisville Excellence in Action Program (LEAP) to recognize outstanding programs in Louisville Metro that have a proven track record of success, but need additional funding to leap forward with improved or expanded services.

St. Vincent de Paul is one of 12 grant recipients. We we were awarded $8,400 to help fund a summer education program for 25 homeless children at our DePaul Apartments family residential shelter.

The 2009 LEAP Grants, totaling $250,000, recognized 12 outstanding educational support programs for 950 at-risk children in grades K-5 that occur during "out of school time," either before school, after school, summertime and/or weekends.

Early childhood education specialist Beth Borgemenke will lead the 2010 program that she began planning last summer, when she volunteered to pilot a summer enrichment experience for DePaul children. The CFL's endorsement of this effort reflects the importance of the program and its effectiveness in helping our young clients emotionally and academically.

The matching grant will cover a portion of the program costs. As in previous years, generous donors have made cash contributions totaling about $2,500 per summer. We will be seeking support in that amount again this year to complete the program's funding.

Among the specific projects planned for summer 2010 is a garden that will be planted, maintained and harvested by our children. Needed supplies include gardening tools such as weed-pullers, trowels and watering cans. In addition, donations of the following items are being sought: Sketch pads, colored pencils, washable markers, crayons, poster board, flip-charts, tie-dye kits, disposable plates and cups, new t-shirts to tie-die for children's work shirts, and clip boards.

If you would like to help, please contact Nancy Naughton, director of development, at (502) 301-8682; This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .