Osher Lifelong Learning Institute receives $100,000 grant from the Bernard Osher Foundation

Lifelong learning program on track for $1 million endowment

HONOLULU — The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) in the Colleges of Arts and Sciences at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa has received a $100,000 grant from The Bernard Osher Foundation of San Francisco to support continued growth of educational programming for older residents of Honolulu.

This is the third consecutive $100,000 grant given to UH Mānoa‘s OLLI since February 2003. The Osher Foundation will consider establishing a $1 million endowment fund to permanently support Mānoa‘s lifelong learning venture if the program continues to grow in 2005.

"We deeply appreciate the generous financial assistance provided by The Bernard Osher Foundation and look forward to expanding our course and workshop offerings to older persons on O‘ahu," said Rebecca Goodman, director of OLLI at UH Mānoa.

The award-winning program at UH Mānoa now has more than 1,000 members and provides an array of courses, life review workshops, writers‘ circles, poetry discussion groups, film series, performing arts events, museum tours, service projects and more.

In 2004, the MetLife Foundation and the American Society on Aging named the OLLI program as the national recipient of the MindAlert Award in the category of Innovative Older Adult Learning Program for its life review workshop, The Illuminated Life, developed by Dr. Abe Arkoff, professor emeritus of psychology at UH Mānoa.

"This is an educational membership program for people 50+ who want to learn for the joy of it, connect with peers, enhance health and well-being, and give back to the community," Goodman said.

The Bernard Osher Foundation is a charitable foundation established in 1977 by Bernard Osher, a businessman and community leader in San Francisco. His philanthropy has benefited a wide range of educational, cultural, and other nonprofit organizations. Since 2001, the Foundation has been offering $100,000 annual grants in three-year grant cycles to lifelong learning programs across the U.S. UH Mānoa was awarded its first and second Osher Foundation grants in 2003 and 2004. UH-Hilo received its first Osher Foundation grant in 2004. There are currently 61 OLLI sites affiliated with universities in 23 states.

For more information about the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute program at UH Mānoa, call 956-8224 or visit http://www.all.hawaii.edu/The Osher Lifelong.

For more information, visit: http://www.all.hawaii.edu/The Osher Lifelong