As we all fondly remember the last FLL season and prepare
for the the next season, I would greatly appreciate some advice and some
assistance from our veteran coaches and mentors. I'll get straight to the
point (so you can either delete this email or continue reading). The Boys and
Girls Clubs of Annapolis and Anne Arundel County, in Maryland, needs
funding to startup a robotics program and I am requesting help in locating
possible sources of support.
This year, the BGCAA is starting a robotics program as
a STEM initiative and is in a difficult and unique financial situation. For
nearly every FLL team that I know of, there has always been some source of
funding for the robotics program. If there was little or
no support from the sponsoring organization, the parents of the
participants could "pass the hat" to collect money for a new robot or similar
expenses. I know that I have personally purchased a robot or two for my son's
robotics program and know of several cases where grandparents or close relatives
of the team has been able to pitch in to provide the needed funding. For
the BGCAA, it is not the same situation. As a rule (to which I currently
know no exceptions), the BGCAA children and their families are
financially disadvantaged. Additionally, since this is a startup program, we
have many non-recurring expenses which creates a relatively large financial
need. We are looking for funding which is external to the BGCAA and its
participants.
We have been beating the bushes for sources of funding and
are running into obstacles. We have recently submitted a grant proposal to help
cover the expenses of the program, but we have been told that our budget is
nearly four times the possible grant. Without asking you all to write a check to
help our financial dilemma, I would appreciate any recommendations on where to
go to find other sources of funding. Do any of your companies have sources of
grant money? Are there any other sources of funding or
support?
Attached to this email is a draft, generic grant proposal
for the BGCAA. Please read it for more details and forward it on, if you think
it might help with securing sources of funding.
The robotics STEM point of contact for the BGCAA is Dr.
Clark "Corky" Graham. He can be reached at:[log in to unmask]
Any help that can be
provided would be appreciated.
In closing, I would like to
forward to you an extract from Barak Obama's recent remarks at the very
recent National Academy of the Sciences Annual Meeting, which was sent to me
from a fellow robotics coach and mentor.
Thanks!
Bill
Aucoin
PS: Thank you for not
deleting this email and if you are willing to personally
contribute, either financially or non-financially, to this program, that
would be greatly appreciated. Contact Dr Graham to see what you can do to
help.
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT AT THE NATIONAL
ACADEMY OF SCIENCES ANNUAL MEETING
National Academy of
Sciences Washington, D.C.
"...So I want to persuade you to spend time in the classroom, talking and
showing young people what it is that your work can mean, and what it means to
you. I want to encourage you to participate in programs to allow students
to get a degree in science fields and a teaching certificate at the same
time. I want us all to think about new and creative ways to engage young
people in science and engineering, whether it's science festivals, robotics competitions, fairs that encourage
young people to create and build and invent -- to be makers of things, not just
consumers of things.
I want you to know that I'm going to be working
alongside you. I'm going to participate in a public awareness and outreach
campaign to encourage students to consider careers in science and mathematics
and engineering -- because our future depends on it...."
-U.S. PRESIDENT, BARAK OBAMA
April 27, 2009
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