LANDER, Wyo. — The Rocky Mountain Power Foundation has awarded $4,500 to the Lander Children’s Museum for its new Culture Kids exhibit. The funding was presented this month to museum director Jennifer O’Connor by Larry Elcock, Rocky Mountain Power’s customer and community manager.

"Our hands-on Culture Kids exhibit will help museum visitors gain a better understanding of other cultures by showing how children from countries around the world live, work and play," said O’Connor. "Funding from the Rocky Mountain Power Foundation will help pay for materials needed for the exhibit’s construction, which we expect to be completed this spring."

The museum’s close proximity to the Wind River Indian Reservation and the fact that more than 20 percent of the residents of Fremont County are Native American helps to encourage multicultural education that teaches tolerance and acceptance of diversity.

"The Lander Children’s Museum is a great asset to communities in Fremont County and beyond, and we are pleased to support their efforts to teach children about what it’s like to grow up in other parts of the world," said Lilisa Hall, executive director of the Rocky Mountain Power Foundation. "The Culture Kids exhibit will provide a new opportunity for children to learn about people and places from around the globe in a fun way that they can really relate to."

The Lander Children’s Museum opened in 1999 and has about 3,500 visitors each year – between 20 to 50 percent of which are children on field trips with Fremont County and Sweetwater County school groups. While many of the museum’s visitors are from Wyoming and surrounding states, its location near the gateway to Yellowstone National Park has helped attract visitors from around the country and occasional tourists.

The Rocky Mountain Power Foundation awards four cycles of grants annually in the areas of education, health and human services, arts and culture, and civic and community betterment. The foundation is the charitable arm of electric utility Rocky Mountain Power. Additional information is available online at  www.rockymtnpower.net/rmpfoundation.

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