The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation in Morristown, New Jersey, has announced sixty-three grants totaling $2.8 million, bringing its total grantmaking for the year to more than $11 million.

In its third and final grant cycle of the year, the foundation awarded nine grants totaling $132,500 in support of of the arts, including a $40,000 operating support grant to the Crossroads Theatre Company, the nation's only theater dedicated to African-American works, and $10,000 to the Institute of Ethnicity, Culture, and the Modern Experience at Rutgers University's Newark campus in support of its Dance Symposium Series. Grants totaling $847,000 were made to twenty-two education nonprofits, including a grant of $77,000 to the Education Law Center in support of its advocacy efforts to ensure equal access to high-quality education for all children in New Jersey, and a grant of $50,000 to the New Jersey Charter Schools Association in support of its ARTer Charters program, which helps charter schools in the state develop arts education strategies.

The foundation also awarded grants totaling $1.4 million to twenty-four environmental groups, including the Pinelands Preservation Alliance, which was awarded $130,000 for its grassroots policy work to protect the New Jersey Pinelands and the Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer, and the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New Jersey, which will receive $45,000 in support of educational and outreach programming and technical assistance. Grants totaling $300,000 were awarded to four media organizations, including a grant of $125,000 to New Jersey Public Radio. And the foundation awarded $50,000 to the Community Foundation of South Jersey in support of the community foundation's efforts to enhance the effectiveness of South Jersey philanthropy, including a board training series for regional nonprofits.

"Every public school student in New Jersey deserves and needs a quality arts education to prepare them for twenty-first century careers," said Wendy Liscow, director of the foundation's education program. "Working with a broad coalition of partners, we are working to change how the education system in New Jersey works by creating new models that incorporate the arts and creativity into every classroom as well as changing how we train our teachers."

For a complete list of grant recipients, visit the Dodge Foundation website.