Ginny's Gift Seeks Grant Applicants for Applied Education Programs in Epilepsy, Autism and Fab Lab

    THREE LAKES, WI, April 29, 2016 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The Ginny Sidlowski Applied Education Foundation, Inc., a Wisconsin-based 501(c)(3) not-for-profit public charity, operating under the working name of "Ginny's Gift" is pleased to announce its first-ever grant cycle for potential recipients in the areas of applied education in epilepsy, autism and Fab Lab.

Founded in late 2014 by Don Sidlowski in memory of his late wife Mary Virginia "Ginny" Sidlowski, the foundation exists to help improve the lives of children and adults who have epilepsy and/or autism by funding innovative applied education programs at schools and centers where they receive care, treatment and attention. The foundation also provides grants to K-12 schools, technical colleges and universities implementing innovative programs associated with their MIT-chartered Fab Lab. The selection of these three causes is explained on the Foundation's website under "The Story of Ginny's Gift" at ginnysgift.org/story

The foundation's directors spent all of 2015 taking the necessary preparatory steps to be able to start awarding grants in the current year. While an active and ongoing fund-raising campaign is currently underway, with additional funding being sought, the foundation is ready to begin making awards later this calendar year thanks to a substantial inaugural gift by the founder and Board President Don Sidlowski.

"We're excited and pleased to have completed our first year of planning and preparation, thus enabling us to move onto the next phase where we are able to provide funding to the best qualifying applicants," said Sidlowski. "By helping to improve the lives of others by providing these gifts we celebrate the gift that was Ginny's life for the sixty years she did get."

Ginny Sidlowski was a lifelong epileptic who died in 2014 from SUDEP - sudden unexpected death in epilepsy - a little known syndrome that affects 1 in 1,000 persons with epilepsy who suddenly die when in otherwise good overall health for a seemingly inexplicable reason because the results of an autopsy reveal no other cause. Yet most epileptics and their families have never even heard of SUDEP because of the medical community's reluctance to discuss it with patients. Rather than be bitter over a cause of death he and his wife didn't even know existed, Don Sidlowski instead chose to channel his energies in a positive way.

Sidlowski said, "A generation ago, nobody wanted to talk about SIDS either, instead preferring to cover it up and imply that somehow bad parenting caused the sudden death of an infant. However, once we brought that syndrome into the bright light of day, things immediately got better and today young parents are well-informed about what to do if their child is in the at-risk pool. We are determined to affect the same changes regarding not just SUDEP in particular but epilepsy and autism in general. For too many years these conditions have been discussed only in hushed tones. Once we begin openly discussing them, things will get better."

Entities wishing to see if they qualify for funding are directed to visit the Foundation's website ginnysgift.org and download the grant application pre-screening form. After completion and submission, each entity will be contacted to learn whether they qualify for funding and, if so, will be given further instructions on how to complete a full submittal. Applications will be accepted from May 6 to July 15. After screening by the Foundation's directors, finalists will be selected at the July board meeting. Site visits as may be needed will be conducted in August and announcement of award recipients will be made on September 11.

The Ginny Sidlowski Applied Education Foundation, Inc. (Ginny's Gift) is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) public charity. The foundation exists to provide funding for applied educational purposes. The foundation will award grants to qualifying entities which submit innovative programs and learning methods for consideration in the initial categories of autism, epilepsy and FAB Labs. Special consideration is given to programs: a) for autism that are evidence-based, b) that combine autism and epilepsy, or c) combine all three categories. Topic areas for grant consideration are unrestricted but must include a clearly defined applied education activity or methodology. The grants awarded for each category will be administered as separate funds. The grants are not intended for nor will any grants be awarded to conduct basic research, medical or technical, in any of the funded areas. Grants will be awarded to: a) centers and/or schools that provide Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention (EIBI), Consultative Behavioral Intervention (CBI) and similar/related services to children and adults with autism, epilepsy or epileptic autism; and b) K-12 schools, technical colleges, colleges, and universities that operate MIT-chartered FAB Labs in conjunction with a fully-integrated STEM/STEAM curriculum.

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