For Immediate Release
Contact: Jessica Vaughn
Imaginuity Creative
214.572.3900
jessica.vaughn@imaginuity.com
ORANGE, Texas, September 16, 2008 - The Nelda C. and H.J. Lutcher Stark Foundation office survived Hurricane Ike but did sustain
some minimal structural damage.
Stark Foundation staff members had fully implemented the
Foundation's hurricane plan well in advance of the storm's landfall and had
taken steps to protect the facility to the greatest extent possible. While a
full assessment has not yet been completed, it will nevertheless take a good
deal of time and effort to restore the facility to its pre-hurricane condition,
as a result of water intrusion to the Foundation offices.
Because of the extensive damage throughout the City of Orange and the lack of
city services as a result of Hurricane Ike, the Stark Foundation office will
remain closed to the public until such time as city services resume and power
is restored.
Stark Foundation staff will work to establish temporary
office facilities and will endeavor to return to normal operations as quickly
as possible. Resumption of operations will depend entirely on the ultimate
assessment of damages and subsequent recovery efforts, which remain to be
determined.
Additionally, because of the scope of damages sustained as a
result of Hurricane Ike by the Foundation and its programs, including Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center and the Carriage House of The W.H. Stark House, and the recovery efforts in which the Foundation must engage for its own
operations, the Stark Foundation will suspend the grant-making aspect of its
operations for the remainder of the year and will not be able to consider
grants submitted as part of the October 2008 grant cycle.
For updates and further information, visit the Foundation's
website at www.starkfoundation.org.
About the Nelda C. and H.J. Lutcher Stark Foundation
The Nelda C. and H.J. Lutcher Stark Foundation is a private
foundation established in 1961 to encourage and assist education and to improve
and enrich the quality of life in Southeast Texas.
Preference is afforded to programs and organizations that directly influence Orange County, Texas.
The Stark Foundation seeks to continue the legacy of its
founders through the programs of the Stark Museum of Art; The W.H. Stark House;
the Frances Ann Lutcher Theater for the Performing Arts; Shangri La Botanical
Gardens and Nature Center; and the Miriam Lutcher Stark Contest in Reading and Declamation.
These venues provide the community and region with rich resources and
opportunities for study and enjoyment of the arts, history and nature.
The Stark Foundation further endeavors to uphold the legacy
of its founders through grants to education and qualified scholarship programs,
organizations that seek to improve health, medical care and social services in
the Southeast Texas area, and organizations with a focus on community
enhancement and arts and culture in the Southeast Texas
area.
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601 Green
Avenue
Orange, Texas 77630-7518
Phone: 409.883.3513
www.starkfoundation.org
