MIDDLEBURY, VT - More than $309,000 was awarded to 36 organizations across the state as part of the Foundation’s Sustainable Communities grant round, which makes awards to organizations that promote arts, humanities, and cultural heritage; the environment; and economic development.

The following organizations received grants:

Addison County
Forest Guild was awarded $10,000 to support a pilot project at Mt. Abe Union High School of the Vermont Community Wood Energy Project, an effort to identify and provide a sustainably produced, secure, local wood supply for heating municipal facilities.

Town of Shoreham was awarded $5,000 to replace the roof and implement structural repairs to the 1810 Newton Academy building, an historic building on the town green.

Caledonia County
Peacham Community Housing was awarded $10,000 to provide the necessary resources for phase one of a project that will restore an historic building in Peacham to its original purpose as a general store with a café.

Chittenden County
Catamount Trail Association was awarded $9,500 to support the Catamount Trail Protection Project in Huntington, an effort to purchase a trail easement in an area at great risk of private development.

Champlain Valley Office Economic Opportunity was awarded $9,000 to pilot its Growing Income Project, an effort to help entrepreneurs with low income increase income through intensified and practical post start-up marketing assistance.

Cochran’s Ski Area was awarded $10,000 to install modern, energy-efficient snowmaking equipment. The equipment will help the nonprofit community ski area achieve its mission to make skiing accessible and affordable for all families.

First Night Burlington was awarded $700 for general support.

Local Motion was awarded $10,000 to support the Close the Gaps campaign, a collaborative effort to develop a regional bike and pedestrian network.

Vermont Youth Conservation Corps was awarded $10,000 to construct an on-site greenhouse and garden as part of its new Youth in Agriculture and Natural Resources Program.

Winooski Valley Park District was awarded $6,400 to train additional eco-stewards to expand the invasive species control program and to further develop relationships with local teachers doing service learning projects.

Lamoille County
River Arts of Morrisville, Inc. was awarded $10,000 to support renovations to the historic Lamoille Grange building.

Orange County
Randolph Area Community Development Corporation, Inc. was awarded $10,000 to fund operating and organizational capacity building at a critical time in the organization's development.

Orleans County
Center for a Biobased Economy was awarded $8,500 to to develop a sustainable agriculture incubator in the village of Hardwick, modeled after Burlington’s Intervale.

Memphremagog Arts Collaborative, Inc. was awarded $10,000 to secure space to begin operating the MAC Center for the Arts in Newport.

Vermont's North Country Chamber of Commerce was awarded $8,814 to support the establishment of the North Country Chamber of Commerce Welcome Center.

Rutland County
Rutland Area Farm and Food Link was awarded $10,000 to support the Farm to Institution Local Purchasing Project. This effort brings locally grown food to institutional markets such as regional schools and hospitals by working closely with local farmers.

Washington County
Cross Vermont Trail Association was awarded $10,000 to create engineering plans, complete all required permitting, and to help acquire easements for one mile of the trail, including a shared-use path and a 140-foot-long span bridge.

Montpelier Winter Farmers Market was awarded $10,000 to support the startup of a self-sustaining winter farmers market in the City of Montpelier.

Open Hearth Community Center was awarded $9,950 to engage in a collaborative community process that will plan the development and implementation of a wetlands restoration and education project in the Mad River Valley.

Friends of the Winooski River was awarded $6,220 to support the Winooski River Watershed Partnership, a community-based effort to implement watershed projects from the Kingsbury Branch to the Dog River.

Windham County
Jamaica Town Hall Restoration Committee was awarded $8,423 to upgrade the curtain and lighting facilities of the Town Hall stage, which supports music and theater performed by various groups in the region.

Rockingham Arts and Museum Project was awarded $10,000 to support projects related to the Exner Block.

Windsor County
Audubon Vermont was awarded $10,000 to implement a pilot conservation program in the Upper Valley region of Vermont. The program will engage landowners and local communities in creating sustainable forest habitat for the protection of birds and wildlife and for the benefit community.

Sustainability Institute was awarded $7,000 to support Our Climate Ourselves, a project providing educational opportunities such as workshops, trainings, and demonstration gardens, which help citizens cultivate a vision of a society that feeds itself without producing greenhouse gas pollution.

Statewide
Clean Air Cool Planet, Inc. was awarded $9,675 to build the capacity of Vermont science centers to inform the public about how climate change is already affecting the state, and what their visitors can do to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Kingdom County Productions was awarded $700 for general support.

Local First Vermont was awarded $10,000 to hire a part-time executive director to guide, administer, and promote the growth of this new organization.

Middlebury Area Global Warming Action Committee was awarded $10,000 to establish community-based educational programs for a "cool-based" economy in concert with a coalition of individuals and organizations in sister communities of St. Johnsbury and Springfield.

Nature Conservancy, Vermont Chapter was awarded $10,000 to support Wise on Weeds! (WOW!), a pilot outreach and education initiative that addresses one of Vermont's major environmental threats, the persistent spread of invasive species.

Sustainable Energy Resource Group was awarded $10,000 to improve and expand the Vermont Energy and Climate Action Network’s efforts to form and consult with town energy and climate action committees throughout the state.

Vermont Council on Rural Development was awarded $10,000 to support the Community Visit Program in Richford and Derby.

Vermont Earth Institute was awarded $9,000 to increase capacity in order to meet the need and demand for its four-session community reading and discussion course on global warming.

Vermont Forum on Sprawl was awarded $10,000 to support its community outreach and training, including an online Community Planning Toolbox and long-term assistance for communities that want to encourage growth in appropriate areas or protect surrounding farm and forest land.

Vermont Humanities Council was awarded $5,700 to support Vermont Reads, a statewide one-book community reading program. This year’s selection is Counting on Grace, a book about life in New England mills in the early 1900s.

Vermont Museum & Gallery Alliance was awarded $7,000 to support Building Accomplished Museums: Collections Stewardship, an effort to provide small cultural institutions with the opportunity to learn standards and best practices for collections care and management.

Zero Waste, Inc. was awarded $7,500 to develop the first stage of this new organization's visual identity and a website.

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