The Clearwater Legacy Project has received $100,000 from Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF) to fund its “green leadership pipeline” with experiential, life-changing programs for youth at summer camps, environmental leadership retreats and green job demonstration programs. “If we want a green sustainable future,” Jeff Rumpf, executive director said, “we must invest in our youth and our grassroots. This project will help create the next generation of environmental leaders so critical to our future.”
The Clearwater Legacy Project comprehensive plan establishes a leadership pipeline for youth between the ages of 5-18, inclusive of all ethnicities, economic and cultural backgrounds from New York City north to the Capital District. The plan focuses particular attention on youth from inner city or under-resourced communities within the Valley’s environmental justice designated communities such as Harlem, Yonkers, Peekskill, Newburgh-Beacon, Poughkeepsie, Kingston, Hudson and Albany-Rensselaer.
Providing young people with interactive environmental education programs, both on-board the sloop Clearwater and along the river’s shores, the program will enable individuals to forge a strong connection with the Hudson River and to the wider natural world. They will also be exposed to the wide range of green job opportunities available to them through personal experience and demonstration projects. Over 1,000 school children, young adults and their teachers will participate in the programs.
“IICF is pleased to support Clearwater’s Legacy Project,” said Dan Gabel, board member of the Insurance Industry Charity Foundation, and Chairman & CEO, Hagedorn & Company. “The organization’s innovative programs will enrich and inspire the under-resourced and at-risk youth throughout the Hudson River Valley and Tri-State area and prepare them for our green future.”
The Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation seeks to help communities and enrich lives by combining the collective strengths of the industry to provide grants, volunteer service and leadership. In 1994, the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation was formed to support nonprofit programs throughout California. Today, the Foundation has a national reach with the establishment of a New York Division and the expansion of California to include the western U.S. with the launch of a Western Division. In 2008 the establishment of a National Board of Governors confirmed the national presence of the Foundation throughout the United States.
The Foundation is funded and directed by insurance industry professionals representing a broad spectrum of the industry: reinsurers, insurance agents and brokers, property/casualty companies, health/life companies and related advertising, public relations, law, accounting, computer and other companies that work closely with the insurance industry.
The Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation exists to provide and generate support for designated charitable organizations that help to meet critical community needs. As the Foundation grows and expands, it maintains a guiding principle of reinvesting funds in the communities from which they are raised.
Since its beginning in 1994, IICF has given more than $16 million in grants to charities, and 140,000 volunteer hours to community nonprofit organizations. The IICF is completely directed and funded by the insurance industry.
