Center for Puppetry Arts Receives Grant from The Home Depot Foundation

Through its sixth annual Building Community Day program, The Home Depot^® Foundation has awarded $20,000 to the Center for Puppetry Arts. The donation will fund the Center's Field Trip Sponsorship Program, which was created to ensure that children of all economic backgrounds have the opportunity to experience the Center's arts-infused educational programs.  

"We are thrilled to receive this support from The Home Depot Foundation," said Vince Anthony, executive director of the Center. "These funds will help us provide thousands of free and deeply discounted tickets to schools and other groups serving low-income communities and underserved children."   

For many children the only opportunity they have to visit arts and cultural organizations is through organized school trips, and many schools depend on the Center's program to offset the costs of their educational field trips. With the help of Field Trip Sponsors, like The Home Depot Foundation, children who otherwise may not have the opportunity can enjoy a live theatrical puppetry performance, exercise their creativity by participating in a Create-A-Puppet Workshop and visit the Center's interactive museum exhibits to learn more about puppetry in a cultural context. 

Through its Building Community Day program, sponsored in partnership with the Georgia Center for Nonprofits, The Home Depot Foundation connects with some of Atlanta's most effective nonprofit organizations, which are focused on building communities through innovative programs and collaborative partnerships that fall outside of the Foundation's usual areas of giving.  This year, 20 nonprofits participated in roundtable discussions and workshops focused on the theme of 'The Coming Transformation of Nonprofit Enterprise' that addressed the needs nonprofit organizations have to strengthen their ability to adapt, and to reinvent approaches for surviving in a changing environment.   Each organization received a $20,000 grant at the end of the day to support their work on a broad range of issues facing the Atlanta community. 

"We feel it is especially important to support local nonprofits that share our goal of creating and maintaining a healthier and more stable Atlanta," said Kelly Caffarelli, president of The Home Depot Foundation. "By creating a partnership with the Center for Puppetry Arts, we believe we have the opportunity to make a significant impact on our hometown."

The Center for Puppetry Arts is supported in part by: Fulton County Arts Council • The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta • City of Atlanta Office of Cultural Affairs • Georgia Council for the Arts • National Endowment for the Arts • WSB-TV Family 2 Family Project • AT&T The Real Yellow Pages • Regency Suites Hotel • For a complete list of the Center's major supporters, please www.puppet.org.

Center for Puppetry Arts® is a unique cultural treasure – a place where children and adults are educated, enlightened, and entertained. Since 1978, the Center has introduced millions of visitors to the wonder and art of puppetry and has touched the lives of many through enchanting performances, curriculum-based workshops, and the hands-on Museum as well as Distance Learning and Outreach programs. Center for Puppetry Arts is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization and is supported in part by contributions from corporations, foundations, government agencies, and individuals. Major funding is provided by the Fulton County Board of Commissioners under the guidance of the Fulton County Arts Council. These programs are supported in part by the Georgia Council for the Arts through the appropriations from the Georgia General Assembly. GCA also receives support from its partner agency, the National Endowment for the Arts. Major support is provided by the City of Atlanta Office of Cultural Affairs. The Center is a participant in the New Generations Program, funded by Doris Duke Charitable Foundation/The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and administered by Theatre Communications Group, the national organization for the American theatre. The Center is a Member of TCG. The Center also serves as headquarters of UNIMA-USA, the American branch of Union Internationale de la Marionnette, the international puppetry organization.

In 2011, The Home Depot Foundation committed $30 million over three years to nonprofit organizations dedicated to improving the homes of economically disadvantaged veterans.  Through Team Depot, the company's associate-led volunteer program, thousands of Home Depot associates volunteer their time and talents to positively transform neighborhoods and perform basic repairs and modifications to homes and to the facilities serving veterans with critical housing needs. Since its formation in 2002, The Home Depot Foundation has granted more than $270 million to nonprofit organizations improving homes and lives in local communities. To learn more and see our associates in action, visit www.homedepotfoundation.org, follow us on Twitter @homedepotfdn, and like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/homedepotfoundation.

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