Play is critically important to a child’s development. Kids learn how to interact with the world around them through play. It helps them learn the cognitive, physical, social and emotional skills that they need to thrive. Play is considered so essential to child development that the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights see it as a right of every child.

Despite that, not many foundations support initiatives that support play outside of broader education work. However, there’s a small—and growing—number of funders that do. A recent gift that fits the bill came from the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation.

Read the full article at Inside Philanthropy »

It can be difficult for philanthropy, often based in wealthy coastal cities, to meaningfully address middle America’s ongoing economic plight. Since the 2016 election, as we’ve often observed, many funders have begun paying closer attention to those challenges. But the geographic disconnect remains.

Read the full article at Inside Philanthropy »

With the impending sale of the Buffalo Bills in 2014, most fans were united in anxiety over a single question — would the team be sold to an owner who would relocate the beloved franchise? It was a question that hung in the air for several years preceding the death of Ralph C. Wilson Jr., founding owner of the hometown team, and it intensified upon his passing in March 2014 at age 95. With so much focus on the negative possibilities surrounding the sale of the team, few in Western New York considered the incredible benefits the region could garner from the inevitable sale/

Read the full article at Buffalo News »

With the impending sale of the Buffalo Bills in 2014, most fans were united in anxiety over a single question — would the team be sold to an owner who would relocate the beloved franchise? It was a question that hung in the air for several years preceding the death of Ralph C. Wilson Jr., founding owner of the hometown team, and it intensified upon his passing in March 2014 at age 95. With so much focus on the negative possibilities surrounding the sale of the team, few in Western New York considered the incredible benefits the region could garner from the inevitable sale/

Read the full article at Buffalo News »

The Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation has announced the launch of STEM 2035, an initiative aimed at strengthening the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) pipeline in western New York and southeast Michigan.

Read the full article at Philanthropy News Digest »

Under-served youths interested in careers in science, technology, engineering and math will be getting assistance through a new program announced Monday by the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation.

STEM 2035 is an initiative that will grant funding and technical assistance to existing after-school and summer programs in western New York and southeast Michigan; regions that the Wilson Foundation is concentrating its impact per the request of Ralph Wilson, the late founder and owner of the Buffalo Bills.

Read the full article at Democrat & Chronicle »

Under-served youths interested in careers in science, technology, engineering and math will be getting assistance through a new program announced Monday by the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation.

STEM 2035 is an initiative that will grant funding and technical assistance to existing after-school and summer programs in western New York and southeast Michigan; regions that the Wilson Foundation is concentrating its impact per the request of Ralph Wilson, the late founder and owner of the Buffalo Bills.

Read the full article at Democrat & Chronicle »

Having room to roam, to dream about the future and to imagine a better world—that is what the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation sees as the reasons for investing in public play spaces in communities that truly need them.

Recently, the organization announced Built to Play, an initiative focusing on children and youth in Western New York and Southeast Michigan—two areas that studies showed were in need of more areas for active play.

Read the full article at Corp! Magazine »

The Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation in Detroit and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology today announced that the foundation will support the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy and its annual Inclusive Innovation Challenge (IIC). The program seeks to identify and promote entrepreneurial organizations in North America that are using technology to improve economic opportunity for low and moderate income earners.

Read the full article at DBusiness »

If children have the opportunity to play, they will take it. That may mean running, jumping, skipping rope or hopping back and forth on lines drawn in chalk.

This was the state of play so many of us grew up with and somehow got lost over the decades.

Yes, video games have become ubiquitous. Few children leave home without some device to watch, play or to use to get lost on social media. Then there are the children who grow up in unsafe places, where going outside to play comes with risks.

Unfortunately, the lack of physical activity is adversely affecting children’s health. Experts talk about the increased incidence of diabetes among young people, and worry about the long-term effects of sedentary lives.

The $5 million being provided by the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation in Western New York will bring positive change. The goal is to build small, innovative play spaces, custom-designed playgrounds and skate parks in Western New York.

Read the full article at Buffalo News »