The Green Bay Packers Foundation has awarded $250,000 impact grants to both the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW)-Green Bay and the American Foundation of Counseling Services (AFCS), the organization announced Tuesday at the Annual Meeting of Shareholders.

The grants are matching grants, requiring each organization to raise an additional $250,000 in order to secure the donation from the Packers Foundation.

The recipient of the Packers Foundation's Staff Impact Grant, MCW-Green Bay, is the Green Bay campus of the Medical College of Wisconsin, one of two medical schools in Wisconsin.

MCW-Green Bay works in partnership with the best academic and medical institutions in the region to bring students contemporary classroom technology and labs, first-class clinical education experience and personalized learning. Featuring a three-year Discovery curriculum, the college utilizes a calendar-efficient schedule spanning 134 weeks to allow students to complete medical school in only three years.

The organization will use the Staff Impact Grant for funding student scholarships.

The recipient of the Packers Foundation's Impact Grant, AFCS, provides counseling for individuals and families, foster care programs, and organizational development services, including support for clergy and congregations throughout the Green Bay area.

AFCS will use the Impact Grant for the Resident Training Program to support AFCS's overall efforts to increase access to mental health care within the community, as well as to develop community partnerships to improve the system of mental health care in Green Bay and Northeast Wisconsin. 

"The Packers Foundation and the Packers are proud to be able to support two organizations that work so hard to improve the health and wellbeing of our community, from educating doctors to increasing access to mental health care," said Packers President/CEO Mark Murphy. "With these grants, MCW-Green Bay and AFCS can each have a direct and lasting impact on Northeast Wisconsin and beyond."

Check presentations for each organization will take place at a later date. To learn more about each organization, visit MCW-Green Bay at www.mcw.edu/Medical-School/Green-Bay-Campus-Discovery-Curriculum.htm, and AFCS at www.afcscounseling.org. 

The Packers Foundation now has distributed more than $4 million for charitable purposes since it was established in 1986 by Judge Robert J. Parins, then-president of the Packers Corporation, "as a vehicle to assure continued contributions to charity." The Foundation awarded 225 grants in 2014 totaling $1.1 million.

The Green Bay Packers Foundation Trustees include Charlie Lieb (chairman), Tom Arndt, Valerie Daniels-Carter, Rick Chernick, Ricardo Diaz, Terry Fulwiler, Jerry Ganoni, Mark McMullen, Tom Olson and John Zakowski. Bobbi Jo Eisenreich is the secretary of the Foundation.

A component of the Green Bay Packers Give Back program, the grants, combined with other Green Bay Packers charity endeavors, contributes to a comprehensive Packers charity impact that was in excess of $7 million in the past year.