Berkshire Environmental Endowment Fund Awards Over $15K in Grants
SHEFFIELD, Mass. — The Berkshire Environmental Endowment Fund announced that it has awarded $15,500 to seven nonprofit organizations.
The Berkshire Environmental Endowment Fund, a fund of Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, seeks applications from grassroots organizations for educational projects that will engage Berkshire County youth with water quality and related land resources. Preference is given to projects that will serve as a catalyst to broader educational opportunities and are likely to have a lasting connection with other educational/environmental programs.
The fund awarded grants for the following projects and programs:
Berkshire Environmental Action Team: $2,500 to produce a series of environmentally focused puppet shows for children to encourage environmental stewardship and conservation in Berkshire County.
Greenagers: $1,000 for service learning field trips in the environmental and agricultural fields.
Great Barrington Land Conservancy: $3,000 to develop a special program in horticulture that will train Greenagers and other volunteers in the skills they will need to care for River Walk's reclaimed native landscape.
Housatonic Valley Association: $2000 to develop an educational awareness program to educate youth and adults about the use and value of Low Impact Development rain gardens.
Hoosic River Watershed Association: $3,000 to commission a story about the river and its watershed including social history, the river's destructive moments, the chutes and how it is possible to work with natural systems to achieve the dual goals of a healthy river and a safe city.
Flying Cloud Institute: $3,000 to support the Berkshire Environmental Education Network, which is focusing on the following projects this year: The Outdoor Classroom, Teaching Through Community Service and Using Environmental Investigations to Teach Massachusetts Learning Standards.
Muddy Brook Elementary School: $1,000 to support their fourth annual Mud Day, on May 18, 2013, which is a celebration of the Berkshire landscape. Mud Day cultivates a conservation ethic at Muddy Brook by promoting outdoor learning in a festive, playful and creative setting.
To donate to the Berkshire Environmental Endowment Fund, visit www.berkshiretaconic.org/makeadonation.
