CORPORATIONS

Summer's here, so let's head for the outdoors and some family vacation time. As you outfit yourself and make your plans, you might consider these fun-loving companies that take their social responsibilities seriously. The links below lead you to the pages that describe their philanthropic interests.

CONTENTS:

• Patagonia
• L. L. Bean
• Busch Gardens & Sea World Conservation Fund
• Disney Hand
• Theme Parks Online

PATAGONIA

Patagonia is famous for its activism in caring for the environment. The company is most interested in making grants to organizations that identify and work on the root causes of problems, and that approach issues with a commitment to long-term change. Look for the link to its grant application guidelines in the middle of the page.

http://www.patagonia.com/enviro/enviro_grants.shtml

L. L. BEAN

L. L. Bean provides support in conservation and recreation, education and culture and the arts. It is not currently accepting proposals from health and human service organizations.

Read the guidelines carefully. Some grants are limited to specific areas in Maine and a very limited number are for regional or national programs. There is no formal application form.

http://www.llbean.com/customerService/aboutLLBean/charitable_giving.html

BUSCH GARDENS & SEA WORLD CONSERVATION FUND

Created in 2003, this fund exists to "increase and strengthen the long-standing commitment of the Busch Entertainment Corp (BEC) to wildlife conservation." Grants support wildlife conservation projects conducted by recognized charitable organizations and noted scientists throughout the world.

http://www.swbg-conservationfund.org/get_involved.html

DISNEY HAND

The primary focus of Disney Hand is to serve the most needy families and children in the areas of learning, compassion, the arts and the environment. Giving is concentrated in and around the cities of Orlando, Los Angeles and New York City. Find a link to The Walt Disney Company Foundation near the bottom of the page, along with a link to contact information for Community Relations offices in Disney communities.

http://disney.go.com/disneyhand/contributions/index.html

Disney also funds the Creative Learning Communities (CLC) grant program which provides grants to public elementary schools for designing and implementing creative teaching strategies that promote student success.

http://disney.go.com/disneylearning/clc/

THEME PARKS ONLINE

If you want to contact other theme parks across the country, you might try this site. The links on this page connect you to general information about the park. From here, you'll need to look for a box in the right margin for the link to each park's home page.

Be forewarned. Most of the theme parks don't make it easy to find basic information about their company, much less about their philanthropic intentions.

http://www.themeparksonline.org/parklist.asp

Beverly Goodwin

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