| |
Home
Small Grants Information & Forms
Boston Grants Initiative
About Us
Trainings/Conferences
Brochure and
Annual Reports
Current
Newsletter
Archived
Newsletters
Grantee Contact
Information
Air
Biotechnology
Energy
Land Use
Natural Resources
Population/Consumption
Toxics/Hazardous Waste
Urban Environment
Water
General
Grassroots
Web Links
Contact
and Staff Info
|
|
| |
December 2005
Grantee Success Stories
Notes from NEGEF's Executive Director
NEGEF's Bits & Pieces
NEGEF Grantmaking
NEGEF Trainings & Conferences
NEGEF Board & Grantmaking Committee
NEGEF Contact Information
|
|
GRANTEE
SUCCESS
STORIES
( back to top )
|
FRIENDS OF THE COMMUNITY GROWING CENTER - SOMERVILLE, MA
The Somerville Community Growing Center is a city-owned park near Union
Square in Somerville. MA. Initiated in 1994 on a former school site on
Vinal Avenue, this urban oasis was designed and built by local
residents and is maintained by volunteers. Much more than a community
garden, the Growing Center provides a range of experiences and
opportunities for people of all ages to interact with nature on its
¼-acre, sloped site in a high density residential neighborhood in
Boston.
A model for sustainable urban land use and collaboration between city
government agencies, local nonprofits, community groups and individuals
working towards a healthy community, the Center includes a healthy
fruit orchard, a labyrinth for meditative walks, an amphitheater and
stage for performances, a pond and stream, a compost center, a small
solar greenhouse, and herb and vegetable gardens offering community
members the opportunity to get their hands dirty and learn about
growing locally raised produce. Providing the community exposure to
environmentally respectful practices is an important goal of the
Growing Center: Solar panels provide energy for lighting and pumping
water; a wash water garden recycles water from hand washing and art
projects to a garden; the gardeners all practice organic growing
methods.
The Friends of the Community Growing Center
are stewards of the Center, the volunteers who keep the gardens
growing, healthy and weeded and the community programs vibrant and
attractive to diverse community members. Opportunities to garden and
commune with nature are rare in this urban community of 77,000
residents living together on 4.1 square miles of land. The Center also
offers a wide range of arts and entertainment events for diverse
audiences. In 2005 the Center highlighted performances from cultural
groups represented in the Somerville population, including a premiere
of an El Salvadoran dance to honor our connections with nature.
Partnerships are key to the success of the Growing Center. Local
organizations have formed long-term relationships with the Center and
its volunteers to provide rich programming and community services.
Volunteers assist the Growing Center gardeners from the Walnut Street
Center who works with developmentally disabled adults and local high
school vocational programs. Afterschool programs and vacation camps are
offered in collaboration with local schools. Teachers use the Center as
an outdoor classroom to support in-school programs. The Somerville Arts
Council operates a summer Art in the Garden program as a free drop-in
art and nature program for young children. An Open Air Circus teaches
basic performance skills for youth one week every summer. The space is
also utilized by the Family Center to support family-based therapies.
This year the Growing Center was chosen as a case study for the
Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs Smart Growth
Toolkit as a model of Agricultural Preservation. See http://www.horsleywitten.com/smart-growth/pages/CS-ag-somerville.html.
One of the sweetest partnering experiences at the Center is the annual
Somerville Maple Syrup Project, engaging young people in making maple
syrup. Tufts University students, volunteers from the Gaining Ground
farm in Concord, and others team up with school classes to collect sap
from trees in Somerville which is boiled down at the Center in early
March at a two-day event open to schools and the public, using a boiler
and evaporator built by local high school students. The Center then
highlights the syrup at a very popular pancake breakfast, a festive
fundraiser. This project helps challenge perceptions of the urban
environment and establishes connections to nature and to each other.
The Friends of the Community Growing Center recruits and trains
volunteers and raises funds to support all programming. Anyone is
welcome to join this group of individuals dedicated to insuring that
this unique urban place continues to serve as a source of personal
renewal, informal learning, and community building for years to come.
If you would like to learn more or become a member of the Center, visit
virtually at http://www.thegrowingcenter.org or call Lisa Brukilacchio at 617-666-2969 to set up a visit.
|
|
NOTES
FROM
NEGEF's
EXECUTIVE
DIRECTOR
( back to top )
|
TURNING TEN: NEGEF CELEBRATES ITS FIRST DECADE
The New England Grassroots Environment Fund is celebrating its tenth
birthday on April 1, 2006. Since its beginnings, NEGEF has had the
pleasure of helping over 800 groups tackle critical community problems.
Looking back over the past decade, we are very proud of the multitude
of changes your work has catalyzed. Many communities no longer make
decisions because “that is the way it has always been done.” Take a
moment and think of the value shifts that have occurred around
community concerns. The issue list is immense. Here are four examples:
**Neighborhoods demonstrating that organic lawn care works, that there
are real and effective alternatives to toxic herbicide and pesticide
products.
**Homegrown economies, “buy local” campaigns and vibrant downtowns are challenging big box development and sprawl.
**Increasing numbers of community gardens, farmers’ markets and
brownfields transformed into urban green spaces are addressing the
issues of food security and creating more livable communities.
**Energy Star appliances, hybrid cars and compact fluorescent lights
are replacing energy hogs in homes, businesses and public places and
individuals and communities acknowledge that global warming is
everyone’s problem and everyone’s challenge.
NEGEF grew out of a realization among environmental funders and
activists that the environmental movement was at a turning point. In
1995 a broad range of environmental activists participated in a series
of discussions and concluded that there was a real need to “build our
base”. Four foundations committed funding, and the New England
Grassroots Environment Fund was born.
Our thinking has evolved significantly over the years, and the
environmental movement has changed, too. NEGEF’s first mission was “to
foster and give voice to community-based environmental initiatives in
New England that further an environmental ethic based on stewardship
and citizen involvement.” Today, NEGEF’s mission is to “energize and
nurture long-term civic engagement in local initiatives that create and
maintain healthy, just, safe and environmentally sustainable
communities.”
After ten years of working with community groups, we have learned that
environmental work will not succeed without addressing other societal
problems; we have added economic and social justice components to our
work because it is all connected.
Savvy community activists are adapting campaigns that interweave
social, economic and environmental goals to their local initiatives. As
Kenny Ausubel and Nina Simon, co-founders of Bioneers.org, recently
said:
“The imperative is clear…we know what to do and what directions to head
in. The solutions are largely present. What we need to muster are the
political will and economic muscle to make this epic shift from a
disposable civilization to a sustainable one…While things look pretty
dismal at the national level, there’s powerful momentum on the ground
locally and regionally. Many communities, cities and states are
focusing on real problem solving and rebuilding patiently from the
ground up. We’ve reached a critical moment and are stepping into the
breach with real solutions.”
The New England Grassroots Environment Fund “envisions a place where
every citizen is inspired and empowered to participate in creating
healthy, just, safe and environmentally sustainable communities – the
places we live, work and play.”
You and millions of other grassroots activists around the world want nothing more than a world in balance. THANK YOU NEW ENGLAND COMMUNITY GRASSROOTS LEADERS. LET’S GROW TOGETHER FOR ANOTHER TEN YEARS.
The tide is turning. Let’s ride it to the shores of a truly just and
sustainable global village. Happy Birthday, New England Grassroots
Environment Fund.
Cheryl King Fischer, Executive Director
|
|
NEGEF'S
BITS&
PIECES
( back to top )
|
THE PRICE OF PAPER
American P.I.E. (Public Information on the Environment) sends out a
monthly EcoAlert that contains interesting and useful information about
the environment. To subscribe, go to www.AmericanPIE.org. The following was taken from their November EcoAlert:
With a modest 5% of the world's population, the United States uses
one-third of paper produced on the planet. This should come as no
surprise since billions of third-class mailings reach homes and
businesses daily. Paper is also a favored packaging material which
accounts for 48 percent of all paper used in the U.S. And the paperless
office, an early prediction for the electronic era, has simply failed
to materialize. According to an analysis in Worldwatch Institute's
"Recovering the Paper Landscape," the proliferation of computers and
other new technologies such as fax and high-speed printers and copiers
has gone hand-in-hand with increased use of printing and writing
papers."
The myth of the paperless office is accompanied by another fantasy that
paper recycling is eliminating planetary costs of paper production. In
fact, while used paper in the U.S. is being diverted to recycling at a
rate over 40%, paper still accounts for almost 40% (by weight) of
municipal solid waste discarded each year. According to Worldwatch's
analysis, 44 million tons of waste paper are discarded in the U.S. each
year - more than all the paper consumed in China.
Environmental costs of our paper consumption, although not generally
communicated to the public, are outlined in every introductory
environmental studies course. The ecological price of paper is
wide-ranging, including threats to the world's forests - 17 trees and
7,000 gallons of water are required to produce a ton of paper;
increases in global warming - 4,200 kilowatts of energy are required to
produce a ton of paper; and pollution of air and water - zenoestrogenic
effects in wildlife, for example, have been linked to dioxin discharges
from pulp and paper mills.
An unintended by-product of dozens of chlorine-based industrial and
chemical processes, dioxin is formed in the pulp and paper industry
when chlorine or chlorine dioxide is used to bleach paper for better
whiteness. Dioxin (shorthand for a group of 75 chemicals) is no less
dangerous than PCBs or DDT; to the contrary, dioxin is more toxic,
longer-lived and even more likely to accumulate in living organisms.
Scientists note that nearly everyone carries traces of dioxin, and its
role as a human carcinogen has been confirmed in numerous studies.
Help bring down the ecological price of paper by practicing the three R's - reduce, reuse and recycle.
COMPACT FLUORESCENT BULBS: HANDLE WITH CARE
From green news, the November/December edition of the
newsletter of the Green Decade Coalition/Newton (MA) and from internet
research by NEGEF Staff.
Compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) provide significant energy savings
when they are used in place of incandescent lamps, but we need to
remember that CFLs are really fluorescent lamps. And that means that
they contain small quantities of mercury, cadmium and antimony.
Although the average CFL contains only about 4mg of mercury, every
product containing mercury should be handled with care.
Ironically, CFLs present an opportunity to prevent mercury from
entering our air where it most affects our health. The highest sources
of mercury in our air comes from burning fossil fuels such as coal, the
most common fuel used in the U. S. to produce electricity. A CFL uses
75% less energy than an incandescent light bulb and lasts at least 6
times longer. A power plant will emit 10mg of mercury to produce the
electricity to run an incandescent bulb compared to only 2.4mg of
mercury to run a CFL for the same time. Replacing a single incandescent
bulb with a CFL will keep a half-ton of CO2 out of the atmosphere over
the life of the bulb. If everyone in the U.S. used energy-efficient lighting, we could retire 90 average size power plants.
While the mercury poses no threat while it is contained in the bulb,
they should never be handled with bare hands if they break. Open nearby
windows to disperse any vapor that may escape, carefully sweep up the
fragments and wipe the area with a disposable paper towel to remove all
glass fragments. Do not use a vacuum. Place all fragments in a sealed
plastic bag and dispose of properly.
CFLs are categorized as household hazardous waste. They should not be put in with your regular trash.
Check with your local trash removal company and/or municipality to see
where and when to dispose of the bulbs. If there is not a collection
site in your area, talk to your local officials about the importance of
starting one.
(C)(3) OR NOT (C)(3)? THIS IS THE TAX EXEMPT QUESTION
From Charlie Bernstein, Maine Initiatives
At a fundraising workshop I led recently, several participants wondered
whether it’s legal to fundraise if they’re not tax-exempt. It’s a great
question, because among grassroots activists, uninformed opinions and
theories abound.
Tax exemption questions often focus on fundraising. Members of informal
“kitchen table” organizations sometimes hesitate to fundraise because
they fear legal consequences. To be safe, they hold off on asking for
money until they have tax-exempt status.
That’s a shame since IRS-phobia is costing them countless fundraising
and organizing opportunities. Further, tax-exempt status can have
unexpected costs. In effect, by avoiding an imagined trap, a group can
fall into a real one. So let’s set the record straight.
The (c)(3): What is it, and what is it good for?
Tax-exempt status is often called a (c)(3) - as in “We just filed for our (c)(3)” because it’s governed by IRS code section 501(c)(3).
Being a (c)(3) has advantages. Bulk mailings are cheaper. It allows you
to apply for (but doesn’t guarantee you’ll get) a state sales tax
exemption. There are (c)(3) retirement plan advantages if you have paid
staff. If your group owns a building, you might be able to apply for a
property tax exemption. And most foundations only fund (c)(3)s. So for
a larger organization, being a (c)(3) holds obvious advantages.
The fundraising advantage is that donations are tax-deductible. Donors
who are setting up trusts or seeking other tax advantages like giving
to (c)(3)s.
But donors who need to consider tax advantages are a minority. Most
donors don’t care whether their gifts are tax-deductible. In fact most
American taxpayers don’t even itemize.
As easy as opening a bank account
Fundraising is your right, a protected form of free expression. The
government can’t tell us whom to give money to or ask for money from.
If you’re not convinced, ask the next panhandler you meet to show you
his (c)(3) designation letter.
Spare change is nice, of course, but you’ll inspire greater trust (and
raise more money) if people can write you a check. For that, you need a
bank account in your group’s name. Some kitchen table groups hold
two-signer bank accounts as a safeguard against abuse. You don’t even
have to incorporate. (While incorporating protects your members from
many debts, not incorporating lets your activities be more private.)
Note that taxes will be due on interest earned in your account. To be
safe, check with an accountant to be sure your group fulfills this
responsibility. For a small organization, these taxes are small change
indeed—and much easier to deal with than getting declared a (c)(3).
Do we have to register as a charity to solicit in our state?
Large groups usually have to. Kitchen table groups usually don’t. For example, your group doesn’t have to register if:
• No paid staff is soliciting money;
• No officers or members receive pay or assets as a result of fundraising;
• During a calendar year, your group raises less than $10,000.
Call your Secretary of State’s office to find out if you have to register.
What about getting grants?
Most foundations only give to (c)(3)s. But don’t despair. Most funders
will let another like-minded (c)(3) sponsor your tax-exempt costs, such
as education, outreach, research, and related overhead. The grant goes
to your sponsor (sometimes called a fiscal agent). Your sponsor then
writes you a check. To keep the auditors happy, it’s a good idea to
have your sponsor send a letter to the foundation and you accepting
responsibility for the funds.
Not to be (c)(3) - the advantages
The 501(c)(3) designation carries an overblown and largely unearned
mystique. That’s too bad, because once you’ve gone to all the trouble
of securing it, you might find that being a (c)(3) has hampered you in
unexpected ways.
If you plan to have a full-time staff and active, functioning board
someday, (c)(3) can certainly be worth looking into. But be aware that
there are trade-offs.
For instance, suppose one of your members decides to run for office. As
a (c)(3), the group cannot endorse or help her/him. What if you’d like
to make lobbying a major part of your work? Again, a no-no, unless you
want to register as a lobbying group and possibly form a separate
lobbying nonprofit that isn’t tax-exempt, a 501(c)(4). What if you and
a small number of people are used to making all the decisions
informally? (C)(3) board structure rules can prove hard to honor, and
there are many disclosure requirements. Or what if you’d like to market
goods or services that don’t directly relate to your mission? Another
forget-it—which is why museums don’t advertise their cafes.
Most of all, securing a (c)(3) is time consuming, expensive and
distracting—for smaller groups, often an unwise investment. It can run
into hundreds of hours or thousands of dollars. Yes, it can be useful,
so it’s worth learning more. But if your group’s members are the type
who just want to roll up their sleeves, grab a shovel and dig in, a
(c)(3) might prove to be the wrong tool for the job.
|
|
NEGEF
GRANTMAKING
( back to top )
|
SMALL GRANTS PROGRAM
UPCOMING GRANT APPLICATION DEADLINE:
Postmarked by January 17th
The latest grants awarded by our Small Grants Grantmaking Committee at its November meeting include the following:
Advocates for a Maromas Plan
Middletown, CT
$1,500
To identify landowners abutting the route of the Mattabesett Trail,
obtain information regarding the environmental significance of each
parcel, and activate local citizens, politicians and environmental
organizations to preserve this sensitive greenway in the Lower
Connecticut Valley.
Androscoggin River Alliance
Greene, ME $2,000
To document water quality problems and the health of the Androscoggin
River ecosystem.
Association of Vermont Conservation Commissions
Middlesex, VT
$1,000
To support organizational development and capacity building resources
as the group continues its transition between executive directors.
Bike Recycle Vermont
Burlington, VT
$2,000
To help with the transition of the organization from all-volunteer to
having a paid Project Director.
Brattleboro Climate Protection
Brattleboro, VT
$1,500
To support the 10% Challenge Campaign to help Brattleboro to achieve
its goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 10% by 2010 through
the implementation of an energy-efficiency program for residences,
businesses and institutions.
Brattleboro Committee: Vermont Earth Institute
Brattleboro, VT
$1,500
To support a part-time staff person to begin discussion groups and
Eco-Parties, continue to develop the Windham Environmental Coalition,
and nurture a new Sustainable Living Network.
Brunswick Pesticide Watch
Topsham, ME
$1,500
To continue with the campaign to maintain a pesticide ban in the
aquifer protection district with the focus on instituting an Organic
Pest Management policy for all town-owned lands.
Center for Environment and Population
New Canaan, CT
$1,500
To inform and engage people at the grassroots community level so they
can better understand and address human population's environmental
impacts in their communities.
Citizens Against Pollution in Town
Athens, ME
$1,500
To help residents in the region to fight the proposed construction of a
40 MW construction and debris incinerator in Athens.
Citizens for a Greater Bennington
Bennington, VT
$2,000
To ensure that a proposed expansion of the Bennington WalMart to
112,000 square feet faces important questions of traffic, storm runoff
and economic impact in the community.
Citizens for Realistic Options to Pesticide Saturation
Harrington, ME
$2,000
To reduce residents' exposure to toxic pesticides used on blueberry
barrens in Downeast Maine.
Citizens Leading for Environmental Action & Responsibility
Claremont, NH
$1,500
To educate the public about the city's long-term waste disposal
contract with the Wheelabrator incinerator.
Clean Catch
Jamaica Plain, MA
$1,500
To add
the voice of fishermen to others who are concerned about persistent
bioaccumulative pollutants such as mercury and dioxin and to call for
clean production and elimination of these toxins from the food chain.
Clean Mashapaug Pond
Providence, RI
$1,500
To halt construction of a high school and YMCA facility on a hastily
and improperly remediated parcel of land, the former Gorham/Textron
Disposal Site.
Concerned Citizens of Russell
Russell, MA
$1,500
To educate the community about the health implications of a 50 MW
biomass incinerator and to challenge the local zoning board's permit
for the plant.
Concerned Citizens of Stoughton
Stoughton, MA
$1,000
To support citizens as they lead a proactive opposition to the proposed
development at Goddard Woods by implementing Stoughton's state-approved
Open Space Plan and acquisition of the Goddard Woods.
Eastern Trail Alliance
Saco, ME
$1,000
To
help pay office expenses so the organization can continue to
participate in the completion of the 60-mile eastern trail greenway.
Environmental Concerns Coalition
Milford, CT
$1,000
To reprint and deliver brochures to every household in town, to
continue adhering storm drain markers, and to print newly designed
Freedom Lawn flags.
Fertile Ground
Williamsburg, MA
$1,500
To fund
Fertile Ground's after- school and community development activities
associated with the Williamsburg model teaching garden.
Friends of Angelica
Mattapoisett, MA
$1,000
To preserve wetlands, concomitant habitats, waterways, coastal zones
and ecosystems in the East Mattapoisett area.
Friends of Bakersfield
East Fairfield, VT
$2,000
To appeal to Vermont Environmental Court a local zoning decision in
order to prevent a local landowner from developing a spring into a
source for commercial bulk water.
Friends of Burlington Gardens
Burlington, VT
$1,500
To support the "Vermont Community Garden Network", a grassroots
initiative to support the community garden movement in Vermont.
Friends of Lee Open Space
Lee, NH
$1,500
To educate the residents about the importance of Lee's local
agricultural community, the value of protecting the remaining fields
and forests of Lee, and to raise money for the town's land protection
fund.
Friends of Merrymeeting Bay
Bowdoinham, ME
$2,000
To replicate and validate results from the group's 2003 project using
caged mussels to identify pulp mill discharge as a potential source of
endocrine disrupting chemicals.
Friends of the Hockanum River Linear Park
Vernon, CT
$1,000
To establish an "Adopt A Trail" program that will involve local
businesses and residents in the maintenance, enhancement and extension
of the town's 30-mile trail system.
Friends of Unity Wetlands
Unity, ME
$1,000
To support the Unity Wetlands Outreach Initiative to raise awareness
about the rich working and wild landscape of the 42,000-acre Unity
Wetlands Focus Area and introduce conservation options to landowners.
Friends United for Proper Siting of Telecommunications Facilities
Newport, VT
$1,000
To prevent St. Mary's church from placing a cell tower in the church steeple.
GE Free Maine
Portland, ME
$1,500
To help fund the group's efforts to support local "chapters" plan and
implement campaigns for GE-free agriculture.
Global Warming Action Coalition Lexington
Lexington, MA
$1,000
To educate local citizens and municipal government and promote action
to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and develop sustainable practices.
Grand View Neighborhood Group
Augusta, ME
$2,000
To pursue new protections from gravel extraction at both the city and
state level.
Hampden Citizen's Coalition
Hampden, ME
$1,500
To help pay for legal costs to oppose the new application to develop
the Pine Tree Landfill and to hire a hydrogeologist and engineer to
review and interpret water quality data.
Housatonic River Initiative
Lenoxdale, MA
$2,000
To continue testing residential and public land where PCB contamination
may be threatening public health.
Johnson Conservation Commission
Johnson, VT
$1,000
To conduct a natural resources inventory on three town-owned parcels of
land, assess community priorities for the use of the land, and present
results to the town.
Land Association of Washington
Washington, ME
$2,000
To help fund legal fees to defend, in Superior Court, Washington's
Planning Board decision to reject an asphalt plant, a concrete plant
and a rock crusher in the Farm and Forest District.
Littleton Citizens Against Sludge
Littleton, ME
$2,000
To continue the legal battle to prevent the spreading of sludge on top
of the Littleton ridge.
Monadnock Institute for Community Advancement & Sustainability
Keene, NH
$1,500
To help fund two events, a Sustainability World Café and a
Sustainability Fair to increase awareness of resources depletion,
climate change and environmental degradation.
Moosehead Region Futures Committee
Greenville, ME
$2,500
To work to overcome the barriers of polarization and lack of access to
the state planning/ zoning process in order to craft alternative plan
elements for the Plum Creek development proposal.
New Bedford Public Interest
Fairhaven, MA
$2,000
To conduct a public campaign to educate the community on the adverse
economic and environmental effects of demolishing a former mill
building occupied by local businesses to make room for a Home Depot.
New Haven Action
New Haven, CT
$1,500
To expand
the group's clean energy campaign, informing the New Haven community
about the benefits of clean energy and gaining more residence sign-ups
for the clean energy option.
NOFA – MA
Barre, MA
$1,000
To
help fund the expansion of Gardening The Community with a new site for
the vegetable market and construction of cold frames to lengthen the
gardening season.
Oxbow Initiative
Canterbury, NH
$2,000
To
prevent the construction of a landfill between two 100-foot eroding
bluffs on the Merrimack River.
Peace Works!
New Bedford, MA
$2,000
To start a Youth Garden Club in New Bedford to concentrate on
developing a site and organizing a local community garden.
Portland Tenants Union
Portland, ME
$1,500
To help fund printing costs for the Children's Healthy Environment
Campaign, a grassroots neighbor-to-neighbor community health network.
Protect Our Water Resource
Natick, MA
$1,500
To educate citizens and town boards about the potential harm from
applying chemicals in Lake Cochituate to control Eurasian Milfoil.
Red Gate Farm Education Center
Buckland, MA
$1,000
To help fund the Red Gate Farm Seed Garden, a project that teaches
young people and adults the traditional art of seed saving.
Rhode Island Rivers Council
North Kingstown, RI
$2,000
To pay for two full-day River Network workshops on creating sustainable
watershed organizations: funding strategies.
Salvation Farms
Craftsbury, VT
$2,000
To
harvest excess farm produce and distribute it to Vermonters in need.
Smart Growth for Bristol
Bristol, VT
$1,500
To continue the campaign to defeat a proposal for a 66-acre gravel pit
adjacent to Bristol Cliff Wilderness and a drinking water spring along
the banks of the New Haven River.
South End Neighborhood Revitalization Zone
Stamford, CT
$2,000
To help fund the Stamford Community Forum on Environment and Public
Health to provide residents with an opportunity to voice their concerns
about public health issues related to the environment.
Stafford First: Citizens for Responsible Growth
Stafford, CT
$2,000
To stop the proposed construction of a 24-hour WalMart Supercenter on
100 acres land and propose land use that is more in scale with the
small town character of Stafford Springs.
Vermont Conservation Education Fund
Montpelier, VT
$1,500
To help fund, "People Can Plan - A Citizens Primer to Vermont's Land
Use and Planning".
Vermonters for a Clean Environment
Danby, VT
$2,000
To fund technical experts to support the efforts of a mobile home park
who will be appealing an Act 250 permit for the expansion of a local
quarry that has negative impacts on human health and the environment.
Water 1st!
Randolph Center, VT
$1500
To
conduct a series of workshops and public outreach efforts to increase
public awareness of the need to protect fresh water supply and quality,
to respond to growth and commercial operations, and to encourage water
resource protection at state and local levels.
Worcester Earn A Bike
Worcester, MA
$2,000
To help fund operating costs of the organization, a community-based
bicycle program that teaches affordable bike repair to community
members and encourages bike riding as an empowering economical and
healthy alternative to car culture.
BOSTON GRANTS INITIATIVE
UPCOMING GRANT APPLICATION DEADLINE: Postmarked by February 15th
Started in the fall of 2003, the Boston Grants Initiative is designed
to provide grassroots grants in a scale appropriate to the urban
environment. Targeted for groups in Boston, Chelsea, Somerville and
Cambridge, grant awards range from $2,500 to $10,000. The following
grants were awarded at the Steering Committee’s meeting in October:
Codman Square Neighborhood Development Corporation
Dorchester
$10,000
To transform vacant land at Elmhurst, Spencer and Whitfield Streets
into two playgrounds for young children.
Delle Avenue Neighborhood Association
Boston
$2,500
To hire an organizer to engage residents and property owners in a
planning process to identify landscaping and streetscape improvements
and to discuss ideas for vacant lots.
Friends of the Community Growing Center
Somerville
$7,800
To support the "More Than Just a Garden" projects to strengthen the
healthy community-based programming offered to Somerville residents,
covering a range of environmental and community-building efforts
centered around urban greening and cultural events.
Somerville Community Corporation
Somerville
$10,000
To support the Community Mapping Program, a way for low and moderate
income residents of East Somerville to get involved in a broader
project to stabilize the neighborhood without displacing those who live
there.
BOSTON GRANTS INITIATIVE STEERING COMMITTE - 2005
Lisa Brukilacchio—Friends of the Community Growing Center
Valerie Burns—Boston Natural Areas Network
Rosanne Foley—Dorchester Environmental Health Coalition
Charlie Lord/Aaron Toffler—Urban Ecology
Gioia Perugini—Jessie B. Cox Charitable Trust
Quita Sullivan—Alternatives for Community & Environment
Mariella Tan Puerto—Barr Foundation
Alyssa Schuren—Toxics Action Center
Prentice Zinn—Grants Management Associates
|
|
NEGEF
TRAININGS &
CONFERENCES
( back to top )
|
ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION 2005
This year, in place of our annual Grantees’ Retreat, NEGEF co-sponsored a number of conferences and trainings.
In October over 100 activists joined NEGEF and the Toxics Action Center
at the Vermont Environmental Action 2005 Conference at Vermont
Technical College in Randolph. David Goodman, author of The Exception to the Rulers, and Gaye Symington, Speaker of the Vermont House of Representatives, were the keynote speakers.
In addition to many valuable workshops, a highlight of the day included
the awards given to a number of groups for their work in their
communities. The following groups were recognized by Toxics Action
Center:
People for Less Pollution (Middlebury, VT) for their outstanding
work to promote and protect the health and safety of Vermont and New
York communities with their campaign against International Paper’s
proposal to burn tires for fuel at their Ticonderoga, NY plant.
Concerned Citizens of Hinsdale (NH) and R.E.A.C.H. For Tomorrow (Contoocook,
NH) for their outstanding work to promote and protect the health and
safety of New Hampshire’s communities by preventing incineration of
construction and demolition debris.
UniForce (Williamstown, VT) for their outstanding work to
promote and protect the health and safety of our communities by working
to remediate TCE contamination from previous dry cleaning processes at
the local UniFirst plant.
NEGEF recognized two of our grantee groups:
Brattleboro Climate Protection (Brattleboro, VT), recognizing
the many successes that Brattleboro Climate Protection has accomplished
in four short years, making connections and offering solutions to stop
global warming.
Friends of Burlington Gardens (Burlington, VT), recognizing the
seeding, fertilization and production of neighborhood and community
gardens in the city of Burlington.
NEGEF and Toxics Action
center staff headed over to Maine in November and held their Maine
Environmental Action 2005 Conference at Colby College. Over 85
activists gathered to hear keynote speakers Peter Montague, founder and
co-director of Environmental Research Foundation and publisher of Rachel’s Environment and Health News, and Mike Bellieveau, Executive Director of the Environmental Health Strategy Center.
Workshops covered a range of issues, including reducing exposure to
hazardous chemicals, global warming, media, pesticides, sprawl,
fundraising, volunteer recruitment and board development, public
speaking, among others.
Four groups were recognized for their community work. Toxics Action Center recognized the following:
Katahdin Center (Brunswick, ME) for stopping pesticides and sludge spreading in Brunswick.
We the People (Old Town, ME) for advocating against waste in Maine.
NEGEF also recognized two groups.
Androscoggin River Alliance (Greene, ME) for their work to change the perception of the Androscoggin River as “just a working class river”.
Good Growth Augusta (Augusta, ME) for their continuing work to bring “smart growth” to Augusta.
BIONEERS BY THE BAY: CONNECTING FOR CHANGE
Bioneers, www.bioneers.org ,is
a national organization that promotes practical environmental solutions
and innovative social strategies for restoring the Earth and
communities. What began in 1990 as a convening in California of
creative changemakers who were applying biological principals to social
problems grew so large that the only way to make this informative event
available to more grassroots activists was to create concurrent events
across the continent, and “Beaming Bioneers” was born.
Last October, “Bioneers-by-the-Bay: Connecting for Change” brought this
wonderful conference to New England, truly one of the largest convening
of regional environmental and social activists in years. Organized by
the Marion Institute, www.marioninstitute.org,
NEGEF joined a number of other New England non-profits to help bring
Bioneers to the region. Over 500 people attended, heard folks we know,
like Julia Butterfly Hill, and names new to the traditional
environmental community like Lisa Harrow and Roger Payne, a husband and
wife scientist/actress team who created a cultural parable with the
story of the whales, Gunter Pauli, who is promoting new ideas for
entrepreneurs and socially responsible businesses, and Juliet Schor, an
economist who writes about American consumerism. These speakers were
joined via satellite from the main Bioneers gathering in California by
Bill McKibben, David Orr, Janine Benyus, Thom Hartmann and Ohki Simine
Forest, to name a few.
New ideas, renewed energy, rejuvenated imagination and increased
connectivity topped the list of conference Take-Aways. There are
thousands of citizens throughout New England working to change the
direction of our American ways. Bioneers-by-the-Bay, one of 16
simultaneous other Bioneers conferences, linked over 8000 grassroots
activists, one of the biggest gatherings of its kind.
Mark October 13, 14 & 15 on your calendars for the 2006 New
England Bioneers conference. NEGEF will again offer scholarships to
grantees.
Please Stay Tuned.
RAISING MORE MONEY FOR YOUR GROUP: HOW TO GET THERE FROM HERE, STARTING WITH WHAT YOU'VE ALREADY GOT
Saturday, February 4, 2006
9:30 am—2:30 pm
Save the Bay Headquarters—Providence, RI
$25 for first member of group; $5 for each additional member
Your group agonizes about money. You’ve sent members to fundraising
workshops and learned about philanthropy, how to identify prospect
donors, and even how to ask for money. Yes, you still aren’t making
much progress. What are you missing?
You need an ACTION PLAN
that charts a predictable path to growth—a plan that includes revenue
goals and doable strategies to reach those objectives. Here’s your
chance to finally complete that plan. In this interactive workshop you
will:
**Clearly articulate how much money you need and what you need it for
in a way that is compelling to potential donors.
**Analyze your current sources of funding for their growth potential.
**Identify where you are getting the greatest return for your investment of time and resources.
**Learn the pros and cons of different funding options.
**Learn how to pump up your membership program. Use the tools the pros depend on to chart your own path to success.
**Draft a plan of action to take back to your group.
To make the workshop even more valuable, Gayle Gifford has offered to
review data you compile about your giving program in advance of the
workshop so she can provide you some specific feedback and counseling
at the training. We strongly encourage your organization to have
several members attend so that you can begin developing plans and
strategies for enhancing your organization’s fundraising.
Gayle L. Gifford, ACFRE, President of Cause & Effect, Inc., is a
nationally renowned fundraising and organization development
consultant. She has worked with nonprofits of all sizes. Gayle is
adjunct faculty in the Masters in Communications Management program at
Simmons College.
Register on our website: www.grassrootsfund.org
Co-Sponsors: Rhode Island Land Trust Council, Rhode Island Rivers Council, Save the Bay
|
|
NEGEF
BOARD &
GRANTMAKING
COMMITTEE
( back to top )
|
NEGEF BOARD OF DIRECTORS - 2005
Stephen Miller, Islesboro Islands Trust—President
Dini Merz, Proteus Fund—Vice President
Quita Sullivan, Alternatives for Community and Environment—Secretary
Richard Davision, Sudbury Foundation—Treasurer
Paul Bruhn, Preservation Trust of Vermont
Benno Friedman, Housatonic River Initiative/Cloud Mountain Foundation
Meredith Hatfield, New Hampshire Charitable Foundation
Gioia Perugini, Jessie B. Cox Charitable Trust
Daniel Ross, Nuestra Raices
Naomi Schalit, Maine Rivers
Ted Smith, Henry P. Kendall Foundation
NEGEF GRANTMAKING COMMITTEE - 2005
Joanne Sciulli, Solar Youth (Connecticut Activist)
Jeff Miller, Bicycle Coalition of Maine (Maine Activist)
Sue Phelan, GreenCAPE (Massachusetts Activist)
Dea Bricker-Wood, Rockingham Land Trust (New Hampshire Activist)
Pat McNiff, NOFA/RI (Rhode Island Activist)
Ben Machin, Orange County Headwaters Project (Vermont Activist)
Carolyn Fine Friedman, Fine Family Foundation (Funder)
Sarah Harding, Penniman Family Foundation (Funder)
Amy Breault, Mass. Environmental Trust (Funder)
Peter Kane, Kane Family Fund (Funder)
Libby Monahan, Rhode Island Foundation (Funder)
|
|
NEGEF
CONTACT
INFORMATION
( back to top )
|
P. O. Box 1057
Montpelier, VT 05601
(802) 223-4622 (phone)
(802) 229-1734 (fax)
info@grassrootsfund.org (email)
www.grassrootsfund.org (website) |
|
|
