Notable Gifts for Aug. 30

Marvin Hicks and Damien Maple, who participate in Richmond football programs at Hotchkiss and Blackwell community centers, moved up to the professional level as "kickoff kids" for Friday's preseason game between the Washington Redskins and New England Patriots.

They ran onto the field at FedEx Stadium to remove the kicking tee during the firstand second-half kickoffs.

Ninety-four members of the Hotchkiss Eagles and Blackwell Bulldogs football teams were invited to the Redskins training camp following a ribbon-cutting ceremony in March for upgraded football fields at the two community centers.

The upgrades were funded by a $50,000 grant from the National Football League Grassroots Program, a partnership among the NFL Youth Football Fund, the Redskins Charitable Foundation and Local Initiatives Support Corporation.

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Virginia's commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War will have $950,000 from the National Endowment for the Humanities to use for exhibits and educational programs.

"An American Turning Point" is the theme for a major museum exhibition, a traveling exhibition, a panel exhibition, a permanent online Web exhibition, and related educational and public programs. The project was also recognized by NEH's "We the People" program for encouraging and strengthening the teaching, study and understanding of American history and culture.

The exhibition will open at the Virginia Historical Society in February 2011.

Union, Confederate and African-American perspectives will be included in a balanced portrayal of the war, according to the minutes of the Virginia Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War Commission. Programs and exhibitions will examine the social and cultural legacies of the conflict, as well as the battlefield and the home front from 1861 to 1865.

Plans for the traveling exhibit include a 3,000 square-foot exhibition for museums, a panel exhibition for smaller venues, and, tentatively, a tractor-trailer exhibition.

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Four Richmond projects to help create livable communities for all ages have received "JumpStart the Conversation" grants.

The largest grant, $2,500, went to the Richmond Public Schools Education Foundation for a mentoring program between students at Henderson Middle School and older adults in the neighborhood, in partnership with the education subcommittee of the Greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce.

Other grants for $1,000 apiece went to:

• ElderHomes Corporation, in partnership with Richmond Community Development Alliance, to plan a one-day bus tour of area housing to educate community leaders about residential needs and housing issues that affect seniors.

• Senior Connections, The Capital Area Agency on Aging in partnership with United Way of Greater Richmond and Petersburg, AARP Virginia, the Richmond Regional Planning District Commission, the Greater Richmond Chamber and A Community Partnership, to develop a 2030 Age Wave Plan for the Richmond metropolitan region. The plan will focus on economic development, housing and long-term care in identifying ways to enhance livable communities and promote strategies for aging in place.

• Family Lifeline for a series of aging education seminars hosted by Richmond's ElderFriends program. The goal will be to decrease the social isolation of seniors enrolled in the program and to increase knowledge of and access to community-based resources.

"JumpStart the Conversation" grants are a project of Partners for Livable Communities and the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging, with support from the MetLife Foundation.

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The Richmond SPCA has received $5,466.80 from the Ukrop's Golden Gift Program, the highest amount of any participant in this year's $200,000 give-away by the family-owned grocery chain.

Ukrop's Super Markets announced that 1,384 nonprofit organizations throughout Richmond, Williamsburg, Fredericksburg and Roanoke received donations from the 2009 Golden Gift program. Recipients provide services ranging from animal care and positive youth development to elder care and hunger relief.

Other top recipients were the Central Virginia Foodbank, $5,209.40; the Richmond Animal League, $2,429.60; the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, Richmond Affiliate, $1,458.60; and Friends of the Chesterfield County Public Library, $1,276.

Since the Golden Gift program started in 1987, Ukrop's has distributed more than $12.4 million to local nonprofit organizations.

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The Gloucester Institute has received a $100,000 grant from the Richard and Helen DeVos Foundation to continue restoration efforts of historic Holly Knoll and continue programs for emerging black leaders

Holly Knoll is the retirement home of the late Robert Russa Moton, an early civil-rights leader. It's known as the birthplace of the United Negro College Fund as well as the location where the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a portion of his "I Have A Dream" speech.

The Gloucester Institute focuses on bringing together leaders from diverse backgrounds and ideologies to focus on solutions for the challenges facing America today.

Get more information on the institute at (703) 313-6290 or http://www.gloucesterinstitute.org.

Contact Katherine Calos at (804) 649-6433 or . Send notices for Notable Gifts to .