Advocacy for improved management of nuclear waste. Academic enrichment in under-served neighborhoods. Gardens at inner-city schools and dance instruction for preschoolers from low-income families.

This is just some of what your gifts support.

The Samuel Lawrence Foundation’s science, education and arts programming relies upon your generosity. With your help, we are expanding local initiatives and strengthening partnerships with groups across the globe, whether they’re aboard a citizen science vessel in the Arctic or a floating school in Bangladesh.

A donation to the Samuel Lawrence Foundation can support a scientific endeavor. It can send a child to a classical music concert, a ballet performance, or a Shakespeare play. It can bolster our advocacy to move nuclear waste away from the beach.

Thank you for your generosity. For 2022 and the year ahead, here is what your giving means to us.

San Onofre and Beyond

SLF bridges science, community engagement and politics to promote collaboration on nuclear waste issues.

In Southern California, we have drawn worldwide attention to the 3.6 million pounds of deadly waste stranded at the decommissioned San Onofre nuclear plant. Our advocacy to move that waste has included the publishing of commentaries, digital newsletters and social media campaigns. In online workshops that are free and open to the public, we bring in experts to explain what’s at stake.

We work closely with Rep. Mike Levin, whose bipartisan caucus seeks to resolve nuclear waste issues nationwide. Another partner is San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace, a group that focuses on the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant.

Uniontown

SLF supports leaders in Uniontown, Alabama, in their fight to resolve cases of environmental problems affecting their community.

In 2022, community leaders in rural Uniontown hosted a three-week summer camp for more than 100 students focused on mentorship, art therapy, and academic enrichment through STEAM. SLF donors played a major role in the camp’s success.

For 2023, projects in Uniontown include food justice, continued monitoring of contamination from a landfill and, in cooperation with Cornell University, working to clean up a historic cemetery.

TOP to TOP

SLF supports TOPtoTOP.org's 20-year, family-operated global sailing expedition to assess climate change and build a global network of climate ambassadors.

In 2022, global warming presented increasing challenges for the TOPtoTOP Global Climate Expedition. Stormy conditions affected the mission’s sampling, cleanups and climbs. The extremely poor conditions this summer added to the list of repairs needed for 2023.

Meanwhile, TOPtoTOP has concentrated on visiting schools, bringing young people closer to nature and cleanup projects in the Arctic Circle.

CLIMATE RESILIENCE INITIATIVE

SLF’s Climate Resilience Initiative provides resources for schools to expand instruction in clean energy, mediation-based communication, student-voter mobilization and more.

This year, we worked on designing a curriculum which can be brought to classrooms, community centers, and college campuses alike to bring a science-based appraisal of what is and is not clean energy, and how to work towards the common goal of keeping the earth and its communities safe.

FLOATING SCHOOL OF BANGLADESH

On the waterways of Bangladesh, floating schools open doors for education, information technology and climbing out of poverty.

In 2022, the Floating Schools of Bangladesh operated 26 classrooms serving more than 2,000 first- to fifth-grade students atop the waterways of the impoverished nation. In addition, a general education program offered to parents included practical training in child protection, positive parenting, financial security and more.

In 2023, founder Mohammad Rezwan plans to operate more floating schools as well as floating health clinics and job training centers.

BARRIO BOTANY



Barrio Botany provides inner-city San Diego students with garden-based, experiential learning to enhance environmental literacy and inspire lifelong health and wellness.

In pursuit of “garden equity,” Barrio Botany in 2022 spearheaded the installation and upgrade of outdoor classrooms at six Title One schools in San Diego. Barrio Botany instructors provided garden-based lessons to more than 2,000 students during the school year, plus an additional 165 students through their summer camp.

Plans for 2023 include expanding the “Swiss Chard in Your Yard’ program, developing an Outdoor Learning Center, and creating a curriculum aligned with Next Generation Science Standards to serve under-resourced schools.

DANCE START

In cooperation with Head Start preschools, SLF's Dance Start provides creative movement instruction for socio-economically disadvantaged children.

In partnership with Professor Joe Alter at the School of Music and Dance at San Diego State University, Dance Start leaped into five new locations in 2022. Also this year, a California Arts Council Impact Project Grant has advanced our goal of expanding dance instruction to underrepresented children.

For 2023, our Dance Start leaders are determined to continue growing the program.

OPEN DOOR FOR ART



SLF collaborates with local art groups such as San Diego Symphony Orchestra, San Diego Opera, La Jolla Playhouse, and others to provide access to musical performances for underserved students and their families.

In related works, Grisha Krivchenia, a new SLF arts fellow, is building connections so students of the performing arts can attend professional rehearsals and interact with the artists. The program culminates with students and their families attending performances.

NATIONAL STEAM PHOTO EXHIBITION

SLF supports the participation of 50 scientists, technologists, engineers, artists and mathematicians — all from diverse backgrounds — in a national photo exhibition.

Board member Alexis Dixon is the driving force behind the National STEAM Photographic Exhibition and is busy gathering photographs and interviews.

Goals for 2023 include processing the images and videos of the interview, outlining a coffee table book and identifying locations across the country to display the materials.