Ford to reward environmental initiatives as grants enter their eighth straight year

• Over 75 projects have benefited from the Ford Grants, with a total of US$600,000 granted since the programme's inception in 2000.
• Applications for the Ford Grants are accepted until February 14, 2008.

Celebrating its eighth consecutive year in the region, the Ford Grants initiative is the largest program of its kind and has rewarded and fuelled over 75 local environmental projects in the Middle East's participating countries.

As with previous years, a total of US$90,000 is available to individuals, community or non-profit groups that have projects currently running in the areas of preserving the natural environmental, environmental education and conservation engineering.

Application forms are available at Ford, Lincoln and Mercury dealerships in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan.

Further information and application forms can be accessed and downloaded from the programme's bi-lingual website located at www.ford-environmentalgrants.com. Deadline to receive applications for the Grants is on February 14, 2008.

Waldo Galan, managing director of Ford Middle East said: "The Ford Motor Company Conservation & Environmental Grants demonstrate our commitment to the communities where we serve our customers. Through the last seven years, the Ford Grants have become increasingly popular among the local and regional environmental groups and NGO's, and we are proud of the programme's achievements to date.

"We also commend the selfless efforts of all the individuals and groups that have made it their priority to protect their local environment, each in their special way. Giving the necessary grants to such worthwhile projects has been our way of supporting these initiatives and giving them the recognition they deserve," Galan added.

The Ford Motor Company Conservation and Environmental Grants is the largest private initiative in the Middle East that provides financial aid to grassroots level environmental initiatives. To date, the grants have supported over 75 projects in the participating countries with a total of US$600,000.

An independent panel of jurors consisting of academicians, as well as environmental and conservational specialists selects the winning projects that would demonstrate a well-defined sense of purpose, a commitment to maximizing available resources, and a reputation for meeting objectives and delivering planned programmes and services. Only ongoing and established projects can be accepted for review.

In 2006, a total of 13 projects from Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Oman, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria received funding from the Ford Grants.