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Apple Pickers Foundation donates $100,000 to URI to support public education about Lyme disease prevention
October 2007
A private charitable foundation based in Westerly has made a $100,000 contribution to the University of Rhode Island's Center for Vector-Borne Disease in support of the Center's public health education program for preventing tick bites and Lyme disease.
The Apple Pickers Foundation, established by Michael and John Warburg of Westerly, made the contribution after meeting with URI Entomology Professor Thomas Mather, director of the Center, and learning about his numerous outreach programs aimed at reducing the risk of contracting Lyme disease.
"I am so pleased with the very generous support from the Warburgs and the Apple Pickers Foundation," said Mather. "It will greatly advance our efforts to raise people's consciousness about avoiding tick bites-to encourage people to take just a few simple actions to prevent tick bites and disease. Tick transmitted diseases can be devastating and so often people think it won't happen to them. But in Rhode Island, Lyme or another tick infection probably has already struck someone they know. The Warburgs' support will truly make a difference to the health of Rhode Islanders."
According to Michael Warburg, the Foundation aims to fund "expertly planned projects for enterprising worthy causes" and focuses in particular on projects that may fall below the radar screen of larger foundations or may have limited appeal to other funding agencies.
"We've been keenly interested in the Lyme disease field and have been looking for ways to help address this serious public health problem," he said. "We observed that there is significant funding available for research, but that there is a critical lack of focus on awareness and education. It was with this in mind that Dr. Mather's work became a compelling proposition for us."
The only sure way to avoid Lyme disease is to prevent tick bites, a message that needs to be clearly conveyed to those at risk.- Michael Warburg
The funds provided by the Foundation will be used to expand and improve Mather's tick education website, www.tickencounter.org, including development of on-line animations to illustrate appropriate tick bite prevention strategies as well as a tool to calculate an individual's tick bite risk. Some of the funds will be used to help complete a documentary film about ticks and Lyme disease that is currently in production and which will be posted to YouTube and used in numerous outreach programs.
"The only sure way to avoid Lyme disease is to prevent tick bites - a message that needs to be clearly conveyed to those at risk," said Warburg, who earned a Master's of Business Administration from URI. "Dr. Mather is sparing no effort to get this message across to the general public and is passionately committed to Lyme disease education and prevention."
The Apple Pickers Foundation gift is part of URI's Making a Difference campaign, which seeks $100 million to recruit and retain outstanding faculty, enhance the student-centered campus experience, provide undergraduate scholarships and graduate fellowships, and fund cutting-edge academic and research initiatives. Make a Gift Today
Current Tick Activity
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Submit a nomination for the Think TICK...Take ACTION Awards!
Date: 4.30.2010
The University of Rhode Island Tick Encounter Resource Center and WJAR Channel 10 Providence are honored to invite applications for the “Think TICK...Take ACTION Awards”. Awards are given annually in conjunction with Rhode Island’s Tick Control Awareness Day, to recognize individuals or groups who best demonstrate an effort or commitment in raising consciousness about ticks, their associated diseases, and especially taking action to prevent tick-borne disease.
Updated Tick Identification Chart!
We've added several new features to our tick id chart: higher resolution images, seasonal chart data, known diseases transmitted, and regional tick abundance combined with additional species.
Purchase Hidden in the Leaves on DVD
If you would like to purchase "Hidden in the Leaves" on DVD, contact us. The DVD costs $15 per copy, plus shipping. Proceeds help support tick-bite prevention programs.
Are you concerned about the serious health threat caused by ticks?
Would you like to make appropriate tick-borne diseases prevention programming more widely available? If you answered yes to these questions, please consider supporting the Tick Encounter Resource Center at the University of Rhode Island. Proceeds help support tick-bite prevention programs.