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BankNewport Awards Grant to South County Museum Camp Program

10.04.23

Newport, RI – October 4, 2023 – BankNewport recently awarded a $2,000 grant to the South County Museum in Narragansett, to support their partnership with Camp Fuller, the renowned summer camp of the Greater Providence YMCA.

The South County Museum cares for and displays over 20,000 unique objects that encourage exploring Rhode Island’s rich and diverse history. Its mission is to interpret Southern Rhode Island’s agricultural, marine, textile manufacturing, and resort histories. To further this mission this summer, the Museum collaborated with Camp Fuller to educate children on the hand skills and tools used during the 19th century.

BankNewport’s grant allowed the Museum to host four camp field trips from June through August, during which campers worked with carpenter Steve Black in the Museum’s woodworking shop to construct wooden dragon boats and paddles that were taken back to the camp for races. While on-site at the Museum, campers toured the Metz Exhibition Hall and visited three other maker spaces, a 19th printshop, a blacksmith’s forge, and the fiber shed demonstrating wool spinning, natural dyeing, and hand-sewing.

BankNewport President and CEO Jack Murphy, along with Greater Providence YMCA CEO Steven O’Donnell visited the Museum’s program last month to see first-hand the campers working to build two dragon boats in the woodworking barn. The campers used STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) skills to construct the boats while working in teams and raced them on the water.

“We were thrilled to have the opportunity to partner with the South County Museum and the Greater Providence YMCA’s Camp Fuller this summer,” said Jack Murphy, President and CEO of BankNewport. “Science, technology, engineering, and math are incredibly important skills to learn at a young age, and it was impressive to watch the campers apply them to such a fun and unique project.”

Pictured:

  1. Youth from the Greater Providence YMCA’s Camp Fuller participate in a summer program with the South County Museum. The youth were joined by (standing back row/left to right): Greater Providence YMCA CEO Steven O’Donnell; BankNewport CEO Jack Murphy; South County Museum Deputy Director and Curator Rebecca Kelly; BankNewport Vice President/Narragansett Branch Manager and South County Museum Board Member, Lynn Wagner; and South County Museum Woodworking Shop/Carpenter Steve Black.

 

  1. Greater Providence YMCA CEO Steven O’Donnell (left) and BankNewport CEO Jack Murphy (right) assist youth from the YMCA’s Camp Fuller to construct wooden dragon boats and paddles as part of summer program with the South County Museum

 

 

About South County Museum:

The South County Museum operates as a history museum, with interactive exhibits across seven buildings, showcasing over 20,000 artifacts from Rhode Island’s agricultural, marine and textile past. The mission is to preserve South County’s rich history, educate the public on the heritage of rural life and continue to enhance and promote the historical, eight-acre site for our community’s engagement and use.