What Would You Do With a Grand?
Quick! Don’t think about it. If we gave you a thousand bucks how would you spend it? Would you pay off a bill? Buy a new gadget?
If we gave your group a grand what would you do with it? Think about all of those projects that you’ve discussed but never acted on for lack of funding!
Well have we got a deal for you!
The Keep Virginia Beautiful 30 in Thirty Grants are back and this year we’re spreading the wealth a little differently. Grant awards are still chosen on the basis of your entries, so you will still need to actually fill out a grant application and ask us for the money. We’re also offering some grants in smaller sums for groups that have smaller projects. We’re still giving out $1,000 grants during the month of April, but a small project for a classroom or education group has just as good of a chance as a great big garden or park project.
The goal of the program is to help spread the word about litter prevention, recycling, and beautification. No project is too small or big to be able to take advantage of one of these grants! Get in there and apply!
Thirty groups from around Virginia got in the act last year and were able to take advantage of our partnerships with businesses to get some funding. Business jumped in again this year, with funding coming from Waste Management and new partner Capital One. Winners came from some of our local affiliates, from state and local parks, and schools from around the Commonwealth.
Grayson County High School used their money to purchase cloth grocery bags featuring their ECO Warrior logo. The bags were made entirely of recycled plastic bottles, and students took them to local grocery stores, talked to shoppers about why they were important, and handed out some cool free bags.
A couple of schools, like Patrick Springs Elementary, used grant money to start great garden projects for students. Denbigh High School got a super courtyard makeover from the James River Association that features a rain garden, compost bins, and hundreds of native and vegetable plants. Students were able to participate in the makeover, and it will provide an outdoor classroom for years to come.
Russell County, Keep Suffolk Beautiful, Holliday Lake State Park, and Radford University got smoking on some cigarette litter education and prevention. They used stickers, posters, and strategically placed ashtrays to make a step towards stubbing out litter. Staunton River State Park got beat up pretty bad last spring with an F2 tornado, but still made good on their commitment and got some grant-money-ashtrays spread around the picnic areas and are seeing some great success!
Beautification was the word for grant winners Waste Watchers of the Eastern Shore, J. Frank Wilson Memorial Park with Southwest Piedmont VA Master Naturalists, and 1 By Youth. The city of Manassas got a huge gift from 1 By Youth, who bundled their award. They used grants from Keep Virginia Beautiful and other partners, plus a ton of volunteers, to practically beautify an entire neighborhood! They cleaned, planted, painted, and revitalized a park and playground that will be around for children to enjoy and will help to keep alive the memory of Manassas Police Officer John Conner III. Nice job, guys.
Get your application in there! Grants are fixin’ to be flyin’ and you’re going to want to get yours…