Pacific Life Foundation Announces Community Grants in Greater Omaha, Nebraska

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The Pacific Life Foundation announced today that it will distribute almost $280,000 in grants to 20 nonprofit agencies and six schools serving the Greater Omaha, Nebraska area.

Arts and Culture

• Omaha Film Festival: $10,000 to support their FilmEd Initiative which offers aspiring filmmakers a variety of classes, youth camps, a festival, and filmmaking opportunities.
• Omaha Performing Arts Society: $35,000 towards a $100,000 multi-year commitment to purchase an advanced sound system for the Holland Performing Arts Center and an additional $10,000 for general operating support for arts programming in Omaha and the surrounding communities.
• Omaha Symphony Association: $10,000 to support the Communities LinkUP! Program which places an instrument in the hands of fourth through sixth graders and immerses them in orchestral music.
• Omaha Theater Company/The Rose Theater: $5,000 to underwrite the cost of school field trips to The Rose Theater for children to watch live theater and dance productions.
• Omaha Zoo Foundation: A $50,000 grant to complete a $100,000 commitment to the zoo’s Butterfly & Insect Pavilion and an additional $10,000 to support their Explore to Learn Education Programs which enhance the study of the natural world for students visiting the zoo.
• University of Nebraska at Omaha: $10,000 to support Inside Art, a news magazine program produced by college students that showcases the various art offerings in the Omaha area.

Civic, Community, and Environment

• Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Omaha: $10,000 to support the Microenterprise Training and Development Program which creates viable opportunities for the Latino, immigrant, and refugee communities to improve their self-sufficiency through entrepreneurship.
• Executive Services Corps-Nebraska, Inc.: $10,000 to support the Powerful Tools for Caregivers Program, a six-week educational program that provides the tools and resources caregivers need to positively impact their health.
• Live Well Omaha: $10,000 to support the “Top 10 in 10 Campaign” whose goal is for Omaha to be one of the top ten healthiest communities in America by the year 2020.

Education

• Literacy Center for the Midlands: $7,500 to support the Adult and Family Literacy Services Program which teaches people how to read and empowers them to be contributing members in the community.
• Nebraska Academic Decathlon Foundation: $10,000 for general operating support for a scholastic competition for high school students in ten academic areas.
• Nebraska Council on Economic Education: $5,000 for general operating support to help the agency carry out its mission to ensure that all K-12 students in the state receive a solid education in economics.

In addition to the educational grants above, the Foundation’s 3T’s of Education program will contribute the following grants to K-12 schools where there are concentrations of children or grandchildren of Pacific Life employees. A 3T’s of Education grant must be designated in one of the following areas: Teacher Training, Textbooks, or Technology:

• Elkhorn Ridge Middle School – Elkhorn, NE: $1,500
• Harry A. Burke High School – Omaha, NE: $1,500
• Millard West High School – Omaha, NE: $2,500
• Papillion Junior High School – Papillion, NE: $1,500
• Ronald Reagan Elementary School – Omaha, NE: $3,500
• Thomas Jefferson High School – Council Bluffs, IA: $2,500

Health and Human Services

• American Cancer Society, High Plains Division: $7,500 to support the Patient Transportation Program which provides rides for cancer patients to their medical treatment appointments.
• Children’s Memorial Hospital Foundation: $7,500 grantto purchase Pedicraft cribs for use in the hospital’s daycare facility which provides specialized care for infants with disabilities and/or developmental delays.
• Girls Incorporated of Omaha: $7,500 to support the Preventing Adolescent Pregnancy Program which provides knowledge and skills to help decrease teen pregnancies.
• Hope Medical Outreach Coalition: A $10,000 grant to support their Specialty Medical Referrals Program which provides medical services at no charge to individuals that financially qualify.
• OneWorld Community Health Centers, Inc.: $10,000 to support The Caremobile Program, a mobile dental clinic that travels to schools throughout Omaha to provide dental care to students who might otherwise go without.
• University of Nebraska Foundation: $10,000 to support the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s College of Nursing Mobile Nursing Center efforts in urban and rural communities to provide primary and secondary preventive health care, including health education, screening, and referral for abnormal results.
• Volunteers Assisting Seniors: $10,000 to support the Homestead Exemption Assistance Program which provides low-income seniors with assistance from trained volunteers in filing for property tax relief after their spouse dies.
• YWCA Omaha: A $10,000 grant to support their domestic violence program which provides free legal services to victims in family law cases.

The Pacific Life Foundation also announced two national grants for 2010. A $100,000 grant to the American Red Cross has been awarded for their Disaster Relief Fund which provides immediate shelter, food, and other support to people affected by disasters, including the recent earthquake in Haiti. The other national grant is to Canine Companions for Independence. This $100,000 grant will be used to expand their Wounded Veterans Outreach Initiative which provides assistance dogs to veterans with physical disabilities. Finally, the Pacific Life Foundation has also pledged to contribute a total of $550,000 towards marine mammal protection and education programs in 2010 and will match Pacific Life employee donations to their local United Way dollar for dollar up to $5,000 per person in 2010.

Annual funding of grants allows the Pacific Life Foundation to respond to a broad spectrum of community needs by partnering with nonprofit agencies that serve a large geographic area. Contributions are made primarily in areas with large concentrations of Pacific Life employees. Currently, Pacific Life has approximately 275 employees working in its regional business center in Omaha, Nebraska. The Pacific Life Good Guys, an employee volunteer group, performed over 375 community service hours during 11 events with Greater Omaha area nonprofits during 2009.

The Pacific Life Foundation was established in 1984. Together with Pacific Life, the Foundation has contributed donations totaling over $57.2 million to hundreds of nonprofits over the past 26 years. For more information about the Pacific Life Foundation, visit its Web site at www.PacificLifeFoundation.com.

Offering insurance since 1868, Pacific Life provides a wide range of life insurance products, annuities, and mutual funds, and offers a variety of investment products and services to individuals, businesses, and pension plans. With more than half of the 100 largest U.S. companies as its clients, Pacific Life is also a member of the Insurance Marketplace Standards Association (IMSA), whose membership promotes high ethical standards for the sale of individual life insurance and annuities. For additional company information, including current financial strength ratings, visit Pacific Life online at www.PacificLife.com.

Pacific Life refers to Pacific Life Insurance Company and its affiliates, including Pacific Life & Annuity Company. Client count as of April 2009 is compiled by Pacific Life using the 2009 FORTUNE 500® list.

Pacific Life Foundation
Tennyson Oyler, 949-219-3248
[email protected]

Source: Pacific Life Foundation