Ocean Institute

Pacific Life Foundation Three-Year Grant


Pacific Life Foundation
Three-Year Grant


Pacific Life Foundation has made a three-year grant commitment to fund the Ocean Institute’s Ocean in Motion STEAM programs for CHOC Children’s Cherese Mari Laulhere Mental Health Inpatient Center (MHIC).

Ocean in Motion takes the “ocean” to young patients and provides opportunities for creative expression through ocean-themed art projects.
“Pacific Life Foundation has generously supported the Ocean Institute’s mission for many years”, says Dr. Wendy Marshall, President of Education and Operations. “They provide funding for our educators to use the ocean to inspire thousands of Orange County’s students to learn. We are very grateful. Pacific Life Foundation truly makes Orange County a better place to live by recognizing and funding important work by non-profits in the region.”

“Since 1984, the Pacific Life Foundation has contributed more than $116 million to nonprofit organizations in our local communities,” according to Tennyson Oyler, President of the Pacific Life Foundation. “We are proud to have a positive impact on the communities where our employees live and work and are grateful for our partnership with the Ocean Institute.”

Unique educational experiences such as Ocean in Motion complement the MHIC’s programming, combining to effectively normalize and de-stigmatize mental health care. “CHOC Children’s is committed to the highest standard of care and has chosen to bring the outside world into the hospital and into the MHIC, quite literally, through sea stars, turtles, and other marine creatures,” according to Dani Milliken, CHOC Children’s Director of Mental Health.

Ocean Institute, January 16, 2020, Media Release

Back to Home Page

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *