Sunday, October 23, 2011

Fort Myers | A $240K grant to children's museum

The News-Press of Fort Myers, Fla., has donated $240,000 to a children's museum in nearby Naples, for a play area where kids will learn to use environmentally friendly materials as they experience life on a construction site, the museum says in a news release.

The Golisano Children's Museum says it will be Collier County's first "learning environment devoted exclusively to child's play." It's scheduled to open in February.

The news release does not disclose the source of the $240,000, but it's almost certainly coming from the Gannett Foundation, which makes grants to non-profits in communities where the company does business. A singe grant that size is unusually large for the foundation.

8 comments:

  1. watch out Naples Daily News...

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  2. Wonder how many directors and executives have homes in Naples? Are they neighbors of Tom Golisano, who would certainly be an interesting board member himself.

    As for The Daily News . . . they were selling the Sunday TV Guide separately DECADES ago. People lined up at convenience stores to get them on Saturday (when the "Sunday" paper came out).

    Can't belive Scripps would get rid of NDN. I suppose they could do a merger (JOA or ??) with the News-Press and call it Florida Suncoast Today . . .

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  3. My advise to those who've been laid off at Ft. Myers is to boycott this museum. Do NOT take your kids there.

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  4. Fort Myers is the new Honolulu. Since we left Hawaii (and no one wants to go to Guam), this is where the site visits will happen when the weather is cold.

    Fort Myers has been made the online processing hub, (ooh, technology, must visit and look at servers) but more importantly it's right near warm Gulf beaches. There will be plenty of visitors.

    The thing is, it's three hours from Orlando and you need some place to send the kids during the on-site. The Gannett donation is for babysitting.

    After you get the visit out of the way, you can crank up the jet and push off to Orlando, Palm Beach or Miami in a short hop.

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  5. 6:55 But what about Palm Springs? Aren't the golf courses better there? ;)

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  6. Jim:

    This report is inaccurate. I serve on the Gannett Foundation local advisory board at The News-Press, and we have never recommended money for this project. Google searches indicate that it was the Naples Daily News that made this donation:

    http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2011/aug/25/cmon-just-read-naples-daily-news-makes-donation-ch/

    We have recommended and the Gannett Foundation has approved numerous donations to worthy local charities: to create an original community hunger fund, pay for computers for low-income children in an agricultural area, fund the stage for a new innovative arts center, and contribute to the United Way, among many other projects.

    If you have further questions about our involvement, feel free to email me at dplazas@news-press.com.

    Thank you,

    David Plazas
    Community Conversation Editor
    The News-Press

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  7. Actually, Jim's he's right. The source was the museum's own press release, which quotes your own publisher, David:

    https://www.communicationsmgr.com/projects/1402/docs/NewsPressPressReleaseOct11.pdf

    Your paper gave $240,000 to the toddler lot. The NDN gave $220,000 to the library lounge. Separate gifts, separate projects.

    Maybe your publisher is circumventing the Gannett Foundation local board? Or maybe the company is just handing out cash?

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  8. 7:04 p.m.

    I appreciate the link. However, allow me to reiterate please that this is not a Gannett Foundation grant. It is, however, a multi-year business cash/trade partnership. If you would like further information, please contact our Market Development Manager Karin Cherwick-Skala at kcherwick@news-press.com. Thank you.

    David Plazas
    Community Conversation Editor
    The News-Press

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Jim says: "Proceed with caution; this is a free-for-all comment zone. I try to correct or clarify incorrect information. But I can't catch everything. Please keep your posts focused on Gannett and media-related subjects. Note that I occasionally review comments in advance, to reject inappropriate ones. And I ignore hostile posters, and recommend you do, too."

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