Thursday, March 06, 2014

Tracy Family Foundation donates $15,000 to program that teaches girls about technology

The Tracy Family Foundation, representing over 60 members of the Tracy Family, has given $15,000 in support of Girl Tech, a technology day camp for middle school girls, at the University of Illinois Springfield.

Robert and Dorothy Tracy founded Dot Foods, the nation's largest food redistributor with more than 100,000 products in 1960. Still family owned and operated, Dot Foods delivers more than 100,000 products nationwide.

The Tracy Family Foundation provides a way for family members to celebrate Robert and Dorothy's values of integrity and generosity and to share their business success with others.

The two-day Girl Tech camp at UIS, directed by Mary Sheila Tracy (no relation), camp coordinator and computer science instructor, seeks to increase computer literacy and excitement in girls, at the age when many begin to lose interest in technology. Activities include geo-caching with iPad, Scratch programming, molecular gastronomy and much more.

Among other benefits, the Tracy Family Foundation gift will add a one-day Girl Tech camp in Mt. Sterling, Ill., and a one-day engineering camp for high schools girls. The gift will also provide scholarships for lower-income girls in the Springfield area and provide other general support.

Over the years, Tracy family members have provided support to UIS for scholarships, including the Dorothy A. Tracy Teacher Education Scholarship Fund and the Manny Velasco Scholarship Fund. Family members have also supported athletics, WUIS, the Illinois Innocence Project, Sangamon Auditorium, the UIS Women's Center, Project Midstate Student Support for Teaching, and other programs.

"The Tracy Family Foundation's gift will enable us to introduce the girls to cutting edge technologies as the products hit the marketplace," said Mary Sheila Tracy. "This gift will also permit us to reach out to more diverse groups of girls and engage them in science, technology and engineering activities."

For more information, contact Sarah Jennings, UIS director of corporate and foundation relations at 217/206-6058 or email sjenn02s@uis.edu.

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