Red Rock to receive $250,000

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      Sunrise Colony Co., developer of Red Rock Country Club in Summerlin, is donating $250,000 in a five-year period to the Friends of Red Rock Canyon.
      The nonprofit volunteer group is using the Sunrise Colony donations to underwrite elementary school field trips to Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area and other environmental educational programs they have created with the Bureau of Land Management.
      "Sunrise Colony Company is donating $250 for every home sold in the Red Rock Country Club community," said Chris Nevins, Red Rock Country Club project manager. "That's $40,000 so far. Wherever Sunrise Colony builds, they like to be good neighbors. Being neighbors of Red Rock Canyon, it is only natural we would support an educational program bringing kids out there."
      When Red Rock Country Club is complete, Sunrise Colony Company's donations will total $250,000, according to William Bone, Sunrise Colony Company's chairman of the board and chief executive officer.
      "The magnificent Red Rock Canyon Conservation Area is a local and a national treasure -- a place of timeless beauty," Bone said. "Sunrise Colony Company is proud to be a private-sector partner working with the Friends of Red Rock Canyon and the BLM toward a common goal: helping to preserve and protect Red Rock Canyon now and in the future.
      "It's our way of giving back to the Southern Nevada community, which has welcomed us so warmly. I know how much the people of the Las Vegas Valley love Red Rock Canyon. I feel the same way. Our company is based here in Las Vegas. My family recently moved here. I have a strong personal interest in the quality of life in this valley. Red Rock Canyon is a big part of that."
      A portion of the Sunrise Colony funds go directly to elementary school-aged pupils, mostly from at-risk schools, according to Jay Bartos, president of the Friends of Red Rock and manager of KNPR public radio's Radio Reading Service for the Visually Impaired.
      "We provide the money to pay for the buses to take kids to Red Rock Canyon. Since a lot of educational materials are provided to them, the Friends of Red Rock also underwrites the cost to keep the program affordable to teachers," Bartos said.
      Training sessions are being held every Tuesday in February at the Red Rock Canyon Visitor's Center for teachers and other volunteers who help lead the field trips.
      "Kids can see nature on TV or in books, but it's not the same as the real thing," said Cathy August, a ranger at Red Rock Canyon for the past nine years and an environmental education specialist for the BLM. "It makes me feel so good to see kids developing an emotional connection to nature. I think it's more likely they will appreciate the natural world all their lives and want to protect it.
      "Because of these donations from Sunrise Colony and the Friends of Red Rock, kids who have never even been out of their neighborhoods are seeing the wonders of Red Rock Canyon."
      Field trips to Red Rock Canyon have made a very big difference in the lives of students at Halle Hewetson Elementary School, according Cindy Rice, a counselor at the North Las Vegas elementary school which brought nine third-grade classes to the canyon through the program.
      "It's so wonderful to see the kids' faces light up when they get their first glimpse of the canyon," Rice said.
      Sunrise Colony donations have also been used to help publish a book for children on the Mojave Desert and the Red Rock Canyon area.
      "We think that educating students about Red Rock Canyon is one way to ensure it is preserved. The money donated by Sunrise Colony Company is certainly helping us accomplish this," Bartos said. "It gives the Friends of Red Rock a strong financial base to build on."