Hot August Nights Foundation Supports Access to Hands-on Learning

For the second year, the Hot August Nights Foundation has graciously supported the Terry Lee Wells Nevada Discovery Museum (The Discovery) and its Financial Assistance Program. Mike Pagni, a Board Member of the Hot August Nights Foundation and former Board Member of The Discovery, helped steward the Foundation’s funding of $20,000 over the last two years to support increased access to educational programming opportunities in science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM) concepts at The Discovery.

The Discovery’s Financial Assistance Program provides either full or partial financial assistance to families and schools that do not have the resources to afford the full cost of The Discovery’s programs. Thanks to the generous support and partnership of the Hot August Nights Foundation, The Discovery has been able to serve the underserved, from families with low income, to at-risk youth, to schools with higher than 50% Free and Reduced Lunch Program enrollment in our Northern Nevada community. One of The Discovery’s exciting new collaborations underwritten by the Hot August Nights Foundation was a series of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northern Nevada “STEM Nights” held in May, August, and November, 2016.

During each STEM Night at The Discovery, 15 to 20 pairs or “matches” of Bigs and Littles were provided with dinner, followed by an hour of fun, hands-on activities with themes ranging from nanotechnology, to puzzle solving, to rockets and electricity, where Bigs and Littles worked to create a “circuit sculpture.” On at least one STEM Night, a third of these matches were new to The Discovery—they had never been to the museum.

The Hot August Nights Foundation’s funding over the last two years has also supported partial or full financial assistance for school field trips (including rural schools), general admission passes, and household memberships, and Camp Discovery sessions for those most in need.

“The Hot August Nights Foundation strives to work with community, business and education leaders to impact the lives of in need or at risk children by providing vital resources in an increasingly challenging world for a broadened educational curriculum.”

The Discovery provides brief Financial Assistance application forms online and in person in both Spanish and English, which are reviewed monthly by an interdepartmental committee of three staff members, including the Executive Director. We also work with social services and other nonprofit organizations to ensure this target demographic is being reached. The Discovery aims to offer partial or full financial assistance for about 30% of Camp Discovery and field trip participants each year, and would like to honor at least 50% of the requests for underwritten assistance that the museum receives for general admission and memberships each year.

The Discovery would like to thank the Hot August Nights Foundation for their continued support of our Financial Assistance Program, and their philanthropic support of our Northern Nevada community.

Interested in what the Financial Assistance Program may have to offer? Click here for information on how to apply. The next Camp Discovery session is coming up during Washoe County School District’s Spring Break, March 20-31.