(Source: Operation Lifesaver press release, May 25, 2021)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Operation Lifesaver, Inc. (OLI), in partnership with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), today announced $200,317 in competitive rail safety awareness grants to Operation Lifesaver programs in 12 states. To supplement the FRA awards, $45,000 in funding from the Posner Foundation of Pittsburgh through a previously announced grant will go towards four additional state grant projects, for a total of 16 state grants with $245,317 in combined grant funds.
The FRA-funded grants will be awarded to Operation Lifesaver organizations in Alabama, California, Georgia, Indiana, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota and Tennessee. The grants will fund a variety of crossing safety and trespass prevention public education projects, many of which will be conducted in conjunction with the nonprofit safety group’s observance of Rail Safety Week, September 20-26, 2021.
The $45,000 in funding from the Posner Foundation of Pittsburgh will support Operation Lifesaver state grant projects in four additional states Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas – and provide the balance of funding for New Jersey’s grant project.
“Every three hours in the U.S., a person or vehicle is hit by a train. OLI is grateful for our ongoing safety partnership with FRA, which facilitates these targeted, grant-funded safety efforts by state Operation Lifesaver programs to stop track tragedies in our communities,” says OLI Executive Director Rachel Maleh. “We also appreciate grant funding from the Posner Foundation of Pittsburgh, whose support enables additional states to launch their projects.”
“The FRA is pleased to work with our safety partners at Operation Lifesaver on these grant projects, which will advance our shared goal of deterring and preventing train-vehicle and train-pedestrian incidents,” said James Payne, Staff Director of the FRA Grade Crossing Safety and Trespass Prevention Program Division.
“We strongly believe in both the mission and the organization of Operation Lifesaver and in particular its tailoring of programs state by state,” said Posner Foundation Chairman Henry Posner III. “This reflects the diverse reality of the USA’s railroad environments.”
The approved grants were awarded through a competitive process, with selection based on criteria such as the defined safety need, the number of highway-rail collisions in the state, and how the proposal leverages federal funds with private partnerships.
Full story: www.oli.org