With these funds we will...

make our educational site accessible for the disabled. We need a new motorized cart to continue assisting people who would otherwise be unable to walk our educational site. Your investment will also help us support school programs, and reasonably manage site maintenance.

                The Gault School of Archaeological Research administers and maintains the Gault Archaeological Site, about 40 miles north of Austin, TX. The GSAR is a 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to research regarding the earliest peopling of the Americas. The Gault Site, a State Archaeological Landmark, is the birthplace of the GSAR and has evidence for 11 different cultures in central Texas including the first named culture, Clovis (12,700-13,400 years ago), as well as over 60,000 artifacts from a still unnamed culture 1,000 years older than Clovis.

                We take our educational mission very seriously and, since 2008, more than 39,000 people have taken part in GSAR programs including more than 12,000 students. In keeping with our goal of reaching young minds, school tours and educational programs at the Gault Site are offered free of charge. Our regularly scheduled tours  and programs for any group of ten or more are drawn primarily from local schools and facilities (Sun City – Georgetown is nearby for example) though we also draw regularly from schools in Dallas, Houston and San Antonio as well as visitors from other states and countries.

               Eight years ago a used 2-seat electric golf cart was donated to the program and soon became indispensable. The site is 80 acres in extent and our tour paths are a 1 ½ mile circuit. The cart was used extensively to make the site accessible for the disabled, support our school programs, and for site maintenance. We have had tours for the blind and escorted people with walkers and wheelchairs who otherwise would not be able to see the site. Sadly, this cart has reached the end of its useful life span and recently broke down with repairs being prohibitively expensive while not greatly increasing its useful life. The GSAR is asking help in replacing it with a 4-6 passenger gasoline cart ( a cart like this one: http://www.cushman.com/Golf-Turf/Personnel-Transport/Shuttle-4) to give us the flexibility to meet the needs of those unable to walk the length of our trails, carry lunches and educational materials from our bus parking area to our picnic area, and meet the needs of site maintenance. We fully expect that, with proper maintenance, this cart will last us the next 10-15 years.

              We have written several grant requests and approached individual donors but have to date been unable to raise the $10,000 it will take to buy a new vehicle. Any contribution would be greatly appreciated by both the GSAR staff as well as our many visitors.

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