The
Rockfall Foundation has awarded its 2014 major grant awards to two
environmental projects, focused in Middletown, the lower CT River, and along
the Middlesex County shoreline.
This
spring Rockfall is distributing a total of $25,000 in grants for environmental
programs benefitting Middlesex County.
The grants will go to SoundWaters for expansion of its highly successful
Coastal Explorers program into the County, and to the Connecticut Forest and
Park Association (CFPA) to bring the Project Learning Tree, GreenSchools!
Program into the Middletown school system.
“While
SoundWaters has numerous educational programs in Connecticut, Westchester and
Long Island, our Rockfall grant will enable us to expand and increase the scale
of our work throughout Middlesex County and the state’s eastern portion of the
Long Island Sound region,” states Executive Director Leigh Shemitz. “Coastal
Explorers will teach hands-on environmental education to increase students’
scientific understanding of the Long Island Sound watershed and the downstream
effect of their daily activities. Over
1,400 students will investigate the science of the Connecticut River.”
CFPA’s
grant will help bring the national Project Learning Tree, GreenSchools! program
into the Middletown School system, building on the current Department of Public
Health (DPH) initiative called, Tools for Schools. “Our objective is to build
upon and expand the DPH initiative by implementing a student learning component
that can be embedded in the school’s curriculum,” explains Lori Brant, CFPA’s
Education Director. “Project Learning Tree CT teaches students how to think,
not what to think about the environment and helps schools assess current environmental
conditions in and around their school grounds. Students take personal
responsibility for improving the environment at their school, at home, and in
their community.”
“These
two programs will bring environmental awareness to a large number of students
and are designed to both sustain themselves and expand to more Middlesex County
schools in the future,” states Grants Committee Chair, Marilyn Ozols. “The
Committee was impressed with both the hands on quality of the programs and the
extent of the impact they will have.”
These
are the first major grants to be awarded by Rockfall. The foundation has given
smaller grants to organizations and towns throughout the county since 1972,
providing critical seed money and support for innovative grassroots environmental
education, conservation and planning initiatives. These grants have ranged from
$500 to $5,000. The goal of these larger grants – given either as single-year
or multi-year disbursements – is to provide worthy groups with the resources to
launch or complete a major project or program, and to be more effective in the
community.
A
list of past grant recipients and project descriptions is available on
Rockfall’s website here. Grants are awarded by the
foundation annually. Application information is available by
calling Claire Rusowicz at (860) 347-0340, or visiting the website. Schedules for the 2014-15 grant cycle will be available in late summer.
The
Rockfall Foundation supports environmental education, conservation programs and
planning initiatives in Middlesex County. Established in 1935, it is one of
Connecticut’s oldest environmental organizations whose mission is to be a
catalyst-- bringing people together and supporting organizations to conserve
and enhance the county’s natural environment. Rockfall awards grants each year
to organizations, schools and municipalities, and sponsors educational forums
and symposia.
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