LOOK TO THE SKY
Things are getting otherworldly in Argenta. The Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub worked with the Argenta Downtown Council and Solar System Trails to create a “Solar Walk.” The self-led tour loops through the neighborhood with interactive signs depicting different elements of the solar system in hopes of “becoming a beacon of STEAM education in the region.”
“We are delighted to be part of the Argenta Solar System Trail project,” Solar System Trail Founder Roni Waserman says, “offering residents and visitors of North Little Rock an inspiring experience of the solar system, a sense of our place in space scaled down to the streets of Argenta’s historic district.”
Gifts & Grants
• CARTI raised a record $830,000 at its three-day, 47th annual Festival of Trees, which has contributed more than $10 million to CARTI’s Patient Assistance Program since its inception.
• The Rampy MS Research Foundation donated $60,000 to the UAMS Department of Neurology, which it delivered by way of relay runners and walkers who started from the foundation’s Bentonville headquarters. UAMS and Community Health Centers of Arkansas also received a $17.5 million grant from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute to study and reduce prenatal inequities.
• The Delta Dental of Arkansas Foundation awarded more than $1 million in grants to improve the oral health of Arkansans through nonprofits, schools and statewide initiatives.
BETTER TOGETHER
• On Giving Tuesday, the Arkansas Black Philanthropy Collaborative hosted its third annual Convening. The sold-out event not only brought together philanthropic professionals, nonprofit leaders and business executives, but also marked the first time top leaders from Arkansas’ four Historically Black Colleges and Universities shared a stage.
• The Venture Center joined forces with the Little Rock Regional Chamber and UA Little Rock to debut the new Arkansas Tech Launch Exchange Program, an international recruitment initiative designed to build and accelerate technology-based businesses in central Arkansas.
• The Boy Scouts of America announced a merger of the state’s Quapaw and Westark councils to create the Natural State Council, which will utilize “shared expertise, resources, programs and facilities that will create a more robust and resilient Scouting network.”
BIG MOVES
• Jama Best, executive director of the Arkansas Humanities Council, has been appointed to the national Federation of State Humanities Councils Board of Directors.
• Dr. Steven Webber is the new executive vice chancellor and dean of the UAMS College of Medicine, effective March 1, while Dr. Sean Taverna is now dean of the graduate school.