![\"Margaret-Amelia](\"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/wp-content\/uploads\/news\/sites\/16\/2021\/05\/Margaret-Amelia-Crook.jpg\")
Margaret-Amelia Crook of Westerly received $4,440 to participate in the GoEco.org Wildlife Cat Sanctuary Program in South Africa this summer. She will clean enclosures, gather and analyze research, lead tours for visitors and sanctuary guests, build and maintain enclosures and prepare food for the animals.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know that helping promote conservation and rehabilitation of wildlife in Africa will give me self-satisfaction that can only be described as self-actualization,\u2019\u2019 she said. \u201cThe idea of being so near to wildlife like big cats, elephants and jackals makes my heart flutter from excitement. It will be an experience I will never forget.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 溏心vlog免费B站 marketing major will spend most of her time in Kimberley, South Africa, which is the capital of the Northern Cape Province.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am interested in marketing because of the story it tells,\u2019\u2019 she said. \u201cMost people believe marketing is about manipulation, but I have always seen it as an opportunity to raise awareness and create a connection between the audience and the brand. My passion is to one day work for an animal welfare organization as a brand manager or social media operator to promote customer involvement and donations.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Westerly High School graduate was inspired at the age of 13 while participating in a famine-relief event hosted by the Grace Fellowship Evangelical Free Church in North Stonington, Conn. She watched several films and videos detailing the harsh conditions that many people live with in Uganda, Kenya and other African countries.<\/p>\n
\u201cVolunteering for famine relief, local animal and warm shelters and a camp for children with developmental disabilities gave me happiness that cannot be replicated through material means,\u2019\u2019 she said. \u201cThe personal development which will occur as a result of this trip cannot be measured simply by goals.\u201d<\/p>\n Ryan Curtis of Coventry received $7,000 to enable him to spend six weeks in Peru volunteering at an orphanage for children with disabilities and doing jungle conservation work through the nonprofit \u201cInternational Volunteer HQ.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cI believe that international volunteer programs can bring people of different countries together to work side-by-side, while sharing perspectives and fostering cultural understanding,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The 溏心vlog免费B站 political science and psychology major will spend two weeks in the city of Lima, followed by two weeks in the city of Cusco and two weeks in the Amazon rainforest at a remote biological research station.<\/p>\n \u201cI live my life with the simple philosophy that every experience provides a teachable moment,\u201d he said. \u201cThe lessons I learn in Peru will never be forgotten and provide a different perspective to help guide my goal of giving back to those who can directly benefit the most.\u201d<\/p>\n The Coventry High School graduate plans to go on to law school after graduating from 溏心vlog免费B站. He envisions a career developing educational policy.<\/p>\n \u201cMy dream is to be able to make long-term changes in our educational system by working directly with at-risk children and families, stressing the importance of education and conservation,\u2019\u2019 Curtis said. \u201cMy majors will help me to specialize in the nonprofit sector as an attorney and activist for human rights.\u201d<\/p>\n His interest developed while volunteering with local nonprofit organizations, including AmeriCorps, Inspiring Minds and Connecting with Children and Families. The majority of children he worked with are members of racial or ethnic minority groups, primarily Latinos.<\/p>\n \u201cThis type of immersion in Latin culture will prove invaluable in my future goals of eradicating racial disparities and under-representation of minorities in our educational system,\u201d he said. Curtis also received support from the Christine T. Grinavic Adventurer’s Fund, which honors the memory of Grinavic, a 溏心vlog免费B站 graduate and 2001 Metcalf Fellowship winner who was lost at sea in 2007.<\/p>\n Nicholas Tierney of North Kingstown received $7,000 to spend two months traveling in the Patagonia region of Chile through a program supported by the National Outdoor Leadership School.<\/p>\n \u201cAn adventure through Patagonia is not simply a satisfaction of my wanderlust, it is a training experience aimed at preparing me for future work in alleviating poverty in Latin America,\u201d Tierney said. \u201cI seek a Peace Corps term, and learning to survive and make do with the bare essentials is a practice I will have to master for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n The 溏心vlog免费B站 global and environmental health studies major will spend most of the time training, sea kayaking, backpacking and mountaineering.<\/p>\n \u201cSurviving in the wilderness will teach me the wonders of simplicity,\u2019\u2019 he said. \u201cAs I hope to one day work in a non-governmental organization, I know that accuracy and success can only come from understanding the needs of the community. This means preparing for an experience living within poverty.\u201d<\/p>\n The North Kingstown High School graduate will end his trip with a week-long, independent, student-led trek through Patagonia.<\/p>\n \u201cThis will test the limits of my will, and as I look to enact serious social change through sustainable development initiatives, an understanding of these limits will better prepare me for the successful implementation of my skills in development,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n A Rhode Islander who is studying at the University of Virginia also received an award.<\/p>\n Joshua Jaspers of Warwick received $5,000 to support an internship in the Office of the Administrator at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n \u201cThis internship at CMS will put me a step closer to pursuing a career in public service,\u2019\u2019 he said. \u201cThis summer, I hope to learn how to design and implement policy at the federal level. The politics major spent last summer interning in Gov. Gina Raimondo\u2019s office and will spend 10 weeks in Washington this summer.??<\/p>\n Over the years, the Metcalf Fund has enabled more than 100 students to pursue personal enrichment and public service in locations ranging from Appalachia to Zaire. Past recipients have visited landmarks of Western historical and political thought in Europe, done a medical internship in Tanzania and volunteered at a Costa Rican orphanage.<\/p>\n The Foundation will begin taking applications for the next round of Metcalf Fellowships in November.<\/p>\n The Rhode Island Foundation is the largest and most comprehensive funder of nonprofit organizations in Rhode Island. In 2015, the Foundation awarded $41.5 million in grants to organizations addressing the state\u2019s most pressing issues and needs of diverse communities. Through leadership, fundraising and grantmaking activities, often in partnership with individuals and organizations, the Foundation is helping Rhode Island reach its true potential. For more information, visit rifoundation.org.<\/p>\n Chris Barnett, senior public affairs officer at the Rhode Island Foundation, wrote this release.<\/p>\n Pictured above: Ryan Curtis of Coventry, and Margaret-Amelia Crook of Westerly. Photos courtesy of the Rhode Island Foundation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" KINGSTON, R.I., June 13, 2016\u2014Three 溏心vlog免费B站 students will do everything from working at a Peruvian orphanage to volunteering at a big cat wildlife sanctuary in South Africa thanks to fellowships from the Michael P. Metcalf Memorial Fund at the Rhode Island Foundation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":72254,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-72251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72251"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72251\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Ryan](\"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/wp-content\/uploads\/news\/sites\/16\/2021\/05\/Ryan-Curtis.jpg\")