WAYNESBORO—The Nora Roberts Foundation has made a five-year pledge to support Renfrew Institute through the institute’s “Today’s Horizon Fund.” Renfrew Institute is a non-profit organization that provides cultural and environmental education programs to area school children, and also interprets an 1800s Pennsylvania German farmstead on the site of Renfrew Museum and Park in Waynesboro, Pa.
“The Today’s Horizon Fund, with a minimum investment of $3,000, was created as a means to continue the excellence of programming the community has come to expect,” said Tracy Holliday, the institute’s assistant director. “As its name implies, the fund allows the institute to address current needs, with an eye toward an expanding community horizon.”
“The Nora Roberts foundation has made a five-year pledge of $10,000 annually,” Holliday said. “These undesignated dollars are crucial in helping us maintain daily operations, address technology needs and insure adequate staffing as we deliver programs. They also provide ‘seed money’ for new projects and programs. This year has been especially challenging financially, and the foundation’s contribution permitted us to deliver on our commitments to the community.”
Nora Roberts, a prolific author of romance novels, mysteries and popular fiction, is known around the world. According to her website, there are more than 300 million of her books in print. Several of Roberts’ stories have been made into movies, including “Montana Sky,” “Carolina Moon,” and “Blue Smoke.”
Roberts lives near Boonsboro, Md., where she recently restored a late 1700s stone structure now open as Inn BoonsBoro, a bed and breakfast inn.
The Nora Roberts Foundation was created to support organizations—primarily local—providing opportunities for literacy and education, with an additional focus on children’s programs, the arts and humanitarian efforts.
Jason Aufdem-Brink, Roberts’ son and foundation board member, visited the institute and observed an entire day of environmental and farmstead interpretive school programs. “There were so many wonderful moments,” Aufdem-Brink said, “but the best was watching the gameboy-ipod generation get excited about drawing a hopscotch course in the dirt with a stick and then jumping through it.”
“We are deeply grateful for the Nora Roberts Foundation’s investment in our work and mission,” Holliday said.
http://www.renfrewinstitute.org/
