In response to community need and challenges brought about by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Newport Hospital’s Frederick Henry Prince Memorial Fund has awarded $20,000 in emergency grants to four Aquidneck Island nonprofit organizations. The funds will support increasing access to healthy foods and meals for children and youth.
The organizations to receive funding are Boys & Girls Club of Newport County, Lucy’s Hearth, Martin Luther King Community Center, and Newport Equity Zone.
“We know that our community’s most vulnerable kids, many of whom receive meals at school through the breakfast and lunch program, are feeling the impact of this crisis,” said Lori Allan, chair, Frederick Henry Prince Memorial Fund Advisory Committee. “The values of the Frederick Henry Prince Memorial Fund are built upon supporting a healthy life for all youth. And these are unprecedented times that call for our emergency action.”
In 2010, a $3 million grant from the Frederick Henry Prince 1932 Trust was made to Newport Hospital by Elizabeth Prince of Newport and her children, Guillaume de Ramel, Diana Oehrli, and Regis de Ramel. In partnership with the hospital, the grant established the Frederick Henry Prince Memorial Fund to support programs for underserved children. Where the grants in response to the current pandemic represent its first emergency awards, the Fund provides tens of thousands of dollars in annual funding. Since it was established, more than $756,000 has been awarded to programs across Newport County.
“No matter the magnitude of the challenges the COVID pandemic has brought to our community, we cannot allow for children and their families to go without healthy foods,” said Crista F. Durand, president of Newport Hospital. “We’re honored to be the administrator of a fund so dedicated to our community, and particularly the needs of its youngest residents.”
