Washington Commission for the Humanities Receives $30,000 Gift from Bill & Melinda Gates

SEATTLE -- Washington Commission for the Humanities (WCH) today announced a gift of $30,000 from Bill and Melinda Gates. This gift from the William H. Gates Foundation will provide general support for the Commission's statewide programming efforts.

"We are thrilled about this gift and are very appreciative of the Gates' support of cultural institutions in the Pacific Northwest," said Margaret Ann Bollmeier, president and CEO for the Washington Commission for the Humanities. "Several of our educational and cultural programs will benefit from this gift which will impact many communities throughout the state of Washington."

The programs that will be supported by the grant include: Motheread/Fatheread, a family reading and literacy program for parents of at-risk children that is offered through school districts, Head Start programs and social services agencies; Clemente Course in the Humanities, a program offering a 'moral alternative to the street' for adults living in poverty who don't normally have access to humanities education; and Inquiring Mind, a program run by humanities scholars that addresses the lack of cultural programs in Washington's rural areas.

Washington Commission for the Humanities is an independent not-for-profit organization providing more than 500 educational and cultural programs to communities throughout Washington state each year. For the past quarter-century, WCH has provided programs – ranging from film festivals to a popular speakers bureau to literacy efforts aimed at at-risk families – in small rural communities, as well as in major urban centers such as Seattle. "Providing Washingtonians with access to our country's vast cultural resources is key to WCH's mission," said Bollmeier.