Sparklight® Awards $1,000 Grant to Ocean Springs Nonprofit Walter Anderson Museum of Art

Walter Anderson Museum of Art - Ocean Springs, MS - 121721

Sparklight®, a member of the Cable One family of brands, recently awarded a $1,000 grant to Walter Anderson Museum of Art through the company’s Charitable Giving Fund. Through this program, the company awarded more than $100,000 in grants during the winter of 2021 to 32 nonprofit organizations across its 24-state footprint.

Walter Anderson Museum of Art, which empowers lifelong curiosity and connection to the natural world through the art of Walter Anderson and kindred artists, received a grant from Sparklight to support the Pascagoula Public Art Enterprise, which fuses public art, engineering, fabrication, and STEM education to support workforce and economic development efforts.

“Just as Walter Anderson famously broke barriers and explored new frontiers along the Mississippi Coast, this project and partnership with the Pascagoula-Gautier School District are helping to develop the most coveted economic and educational frontier in the state of Mississippi,” said Julian Rankin, Walter Anderson Museum of Art Executive Director. “The Pascagoula Public Art Enterprise is in keeping with the Museum’s tradition of fostering deeper awareness and self-expression as it relates to both natural and urban environments and landscapes. Funding from this grant helps this project directly contribute to the revitalization of downtown Pascagoula, while also creating a model for future projects and partnerships that can benefit other regional municipalities and communities.”

The Charitable Giving Fund annually awards more than $200,000 in grants to local 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations served by Sparklight and the other Cable One family of brands (Fidelity Communications, ValuNet Fiber, and Hargray), and concentrates support in the following priority areas:

  • Education and Digital Literacy
  • Food Insecurity
  • Community Development

Nonprofit organizations will have the opportunity to apply for a grant during open application periods each spring and fall. Applications for spring 2022 grants will open between April 1 -30, 2022.

“Through our philanthropic initiatives and support of our local nonprofit organizations, we are helping to build strong and vibrant communities, improve quality of life, and make a positive difference in the cities and towns where we live and work,” said Julie Laulis, Cable One President and CEO.

The Charitable Giving Fund is an extension of the company’s existing corporate social responsibility efforts, which include:

  • Chromebooks for Kids, an initiative in which the company donates Chromebooks to Title I schools across its footprint. To date, the company has donated more than 2,000 Chromebooks to help bridge the digital divide in schools that lack funding.
  • Supporting national organizations dedicated to advancing racial equality, justice, education and diversity, including the Equal Justice Initiative, the Emma Bowen Foundation and the National Diversity Council.  
  • Supporting the mission of Special Olympics Arizona, which provides year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports, as well as health, arts, and leadership and advocacy programs for children and adults with intellectual disabilities. 
  • Planting trees through the Arbor Day Foundation on behalf of customers who switch to paperless billing. To date, the company has planted 120,000 trees in its markets and national forests.
  • Supporting the mission of Keep America Beautiful in cleaning up and beautifying communities across the U.S. 

For more information about Sparklight’s Charitable Giving Fund, visit www.sparklight.com/charitablegiving.