PRESS RELEASE
Contact: Rebecca Hooper
Communications and Program Manager
802-359-5001 x231
rhooper@vinsweb.org

Vermont Institute of Natural Science Awarded Grant from Canaday Family Charitable Trust to Fund Environmental Education Program for Schools

Quechee, VT- July 5, 2007- The Vermont Institute of Natural Sciences, VINS, recently received a $100,000 gift from the Marshall V. Heuser Fund. The gift was made possible by contributed funds of Mimi Mazzier-Heuser and Marshall V. Heuser through the Community Foundation of Louisville, Kentucky.
The monetary gift came to VINS in July, after the Heuser's brought the Snowy Owl to VINS for residency in September of 2006. The Snowy Owl will have its first birthday the first week of August in its new home at the VINS Nature Center. The Snowy Owl lives among forty-six other raptors that are in the care of VINS Wildlife Services employees and volunteers.
A select group of these raptors are trained and used in VINS' environmental education programs. These particular programs take place at the VINS Nature Center and in Outreach venues throughout Vermont and New Hampshire. The gift from Mr. and Mrs. Heuser will fund VINS' general environmental educations programs.
Marshall V. Heuser and Mimi Mazzier- Heuser live in Louisville, Kentucky and spend time in Woodstock, Vermont during the summer months. Mr. and Mrs. Heuser are longtime friends and sponsors of the Vermont Institute of Natural Science and its environmental education, research, and avian rehabilitation programs. They are generous supporters of many worthy charities and non-profit organizations in Kentucky and Vermont, ranging from those involved in animal and nature concerns to others promoting education and the arts.

For more than 30 years, VINS has nurtured children's interest in wildlife and the environment through school-based environmental education programs, Outreach and Community programs, and summer and holiday camps. By participating in VINS' programs, children of all ages learn the value and importance of being good stewards of the natural world.


Founded in 1972, The Vermont Institute of Natural Science (VINS) is a non-profit 501©3, member-supported organization headquartered in Quechee, Vermont. VINS' mission is to protect our natural heritage through education and research.

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