Auburn School District No. 408
915 4th Street Northeast, Auburn, WA  98002

10/26/05

NEWS RELEASE
Auburn School District Receives Fred Meyer Grant

The Auburn School District Physical Therapy/Occupational Therapy (PT/OT) department has recently been awarded a grant of $1920 from the Fred Meyer Foundation. Physical therapy assistant, Jean Branesky, wrote the grant which requested the funds to purchase an upper body exercise bicycle that would be beneficial for students with special needs. Ms. Branesky works primarily with students at Auburn High School.

The district’s PT/OT department works with students with disabilities to help them access their education. The special exercise bicycle will enable the high school students in wheelchair to participate in a general education P.E. class, achieve aerobic workout, and demonstrate to their peers the abilities of differently-abled students.

The Fred Meyer Foundation and its advisory committee members were particularly impressed by the successful track record of the Auburn School District PT/OT department and its programs,” Glynda Brockhoff, philanthropy coordinator for Fred Meyer and the Fred Meyer Foundation, said.

The Foundation’s community grant program is driven by 29 local advisory committees made up of local Fred Meyer associates who research nonprofit organizations in their communities and then award community grants.

“These grants are the result of true community efforts involving both our associates through our annual Employee Giving Campaign and our customers through the contributions they make in our stores using the Make Change Count coin boxes and scan cards at the checkstands. The dollars collected through these employee and store efforts are combined and then allocated by the advisory committees as community grants in the four western states where we have stores,” Brockhoff said.

The Frey Meyer Foundation assists nonprofit organizations dedicated to helping children and reducing hunger in communities served by 129 Fred Meyer stores in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.

For more information, contact Jean Branesky at (253) 931-4927.