The Friends of the Mary Wilson Library have been awarded a $2,000 grant from the Disney VoluntEARS Community Fund. Nominated aby Wendy Robinson, who is the owner of Cash, the library’s “Reading with Rover” dog, the successful application was written by Katie Dietzman, the Library Media Technician for the Mary Wilson Library.
The Disney fund provides grants to nonprofit organizations demonstrating new and innovative approaches to addressing challenges in the community such as culture and the arts, education, environment, health and social services. This grant will be used to purchase the materials necessary to start an ongoing program such as MakerSpace for the youth and young adults in Seal Beach. MakerSpace activities aim to give our teens hands-on experience on projects in science, technology, engineering, art and math, and inspiring them in future endeavors. Materials would include starter kits for robotics and movie making software.
Many of the activities in the program will rely on teamworkand shared experiences. The teens will not only be working with each other, but with librarians and possibly experts in various fields. The Disney VoluntEARS Community Fund was launched in 1997 at Disneyland as an opportunity for “cast members” to nominate and contribute funds to worthy organizations in southern California. Robinson is a long-time cast member at Disneyland.
