Since 2002, Discovery has granted more than $1 million and supported more than fifty projects and programs at Ball State University. This year, the prominent women’s philanthropy group has selected two charities to receive nearly $40,000 in charitable donations; the Parent Play Lab and Muncie Community Near-Peer Mentoring Program (MCNPM).

The Parent Play Lab, to be housed in Longfellow Elementary in the Muncie Whitley Community, will engage trained Ball State students as the primary facilitators of family play activities and parent meetings which will assist in building the Ball State students’ leadership skills. Discovery’s funds will be used by Parent Play Lab to hire personnel, cover supplies, and train facilitators and students.

The MCNPM program will provide opportunities for graduate students from the Center for Information and Communication Sciences (CICS) and undergraduates from Computer and Information Technology (CIT). They participate in modeling the Beneficence Pledge values of social responsibility and valuing the intrinsic worth of others by taking on the role of near-peer mentor to their target mentee population. Discovery’s funds will go towards MCNPM’s efforts to hire a graduate assistant to work on coordination for the project, build a website to serve as a tool to connect mentors and mentees, and provide project materials.

To learn more about Discovery, its efforts, and how you can get involved, visit the program’s website.