Donald M. Payne, Sr. YMCA Scholarship
Awarded to urban area students to support their academic studies directed toward careers in public/community service. Twenty thousand dollars is currently committed by DMPSRGF for one recipient at five thousand dollars annually towards undergraduate education.
Recent Recipient:
International Book Project
Assisting nearly 500-orphaned African children living in a Kenyan refugee camp, over four thousand dollars from the Foundation has provided books and school supplies to children from Somalia and Ethiopia.
Recent Partner:
Horn of Africa Orphan Relief Organization (HAORO)
The main objective of the HAORO is to provide assistance to the poor children orphaned by prolonged war across the region of Horn of Africa. HAORO also assists children belonging to deprived and poor families by providing them with basic needs including shelter, education and access to healthcare.
Kenya Clinic
The Hope for Life Clinic located in Kiunguria Kenya was dedicated and named for the late Donald M. Payne, Sr. on November 5, 2012. The clinic is fully operational and provides many critical services. The top priority is to care for the children at Hope for Life. There are 114 children at this orphan care center who reside with their caregivers but attend the clinic for a nutritious meal daily. Other services provided are vocational training, Sunday Fellowship, tutoring, counseling, farming, HIV/AIDS support groups, Christian Rites of Passage and life skills training. The foundation supports this clinic to assist with maintaining appropriate healthcare while honoring the legacy of Donald M. Payne, Sr. Our donations of funds supported the purchase of furniture and medical supplies.
Payne Scholars Program
In partnership with St. Benedict’s Prep High School and Seton Hall University, the pilot Payne Scholars program was launched during the Spring 2016 semester.
The program introduces inner-city high school youths to broader career choices by preparing and encouraging them to pursue opportunities in the international public and private sectors. Students will also receive college credits via Seton Hall's Project Acceleration program at the end of each semester.
Geoscience Scholars Summer Institute at Rutgers
The Payne Foundation funded The Donald M. Payne, Sr. Geoscience Scholars Summer Institute for 2015. It consisted of 64 high school students recruited from Newark, NJ and the surrounding area. It was taught by four teachers from the Newark Public School system and nearby schools with assistance from four Rutgers-Newark and eight Essex County College student assistants from the Newark area as well. The project was headed by Rutgers-Newark for college student recruitment and connecting participants with other enrichment opportunities. The summer institute was divided into 4 one-week modules on Energy, Mining, the Environment and Surface of the Earth. The students participated in eight field trips to nearby sites of geological interest, visits and lectures by industry professionals from ExxonMobil, Prudential, Tyco Industries, CitiGroup, PSE&G, NJIT and environmental companies; GEI Consultants, TRC Solutions, Langan Engineering, etc.) and an environmental research project on a local public park. The research included soil and water sampling located using a GPS, chemical analysis of the samples in a lab, and plotting of the data on a Geographic Information System (GIS) database using the program ArcMap. The Weequahic public park in Newark was studied this year. The field trips included an oil refinery (Hess or ConocoPhillips), Great Falls hydroelectric plant, Iron Mine trail, a cave system, Sterling Hill zinc mine, a boat trip through the Hackensack Meadowlands estuary, a cave system or the geophysical piñata (locating a buried tube of candy using Ground Penetrating Radar) and the beach at the Jersey Shore. The students performed exercises to support the modules. The Payne Foundation will continue to support and develop a select group of students with future plans of introducing opportunities abroad.