Virginia Master Naturalists Win 30 in Thirty

Virginia Master Naturalists, Pocahontas Chapter in Chester has been awarded a 30 in Thirty Grant of $500 in the Beautification category. The Virginia Master Naturalists began construction on a monarch/pollinator community garden in the Equestrian center. The organization will create a monarch waystation to record pertinent research data for the Monarch Larval Monitoring Project. During the fall migration, they will tag monarch butterflies for the Monarch Watch. This citizen science monarch conservation project will emphasize the importance of pollinators, and will be used as an educational tool and community beautification project.

Government, non-profit, civic and service organizations in Virginia were invited to apply for 30 in Thirty Grants for $500 to $1,000 telling how they are addressing these pressing issues:  Litter Prevention, Recycling, Cigarette Litter Prevention, and Community Beautification. Since 2011, Keep Virginia Beautiful has provided over $110,000 to 140 organizations throughout the state. This year, for the first time, we are awarding 45 grants because of the generosity of our partners at Altria, Keep America Beautiful, WestRock Foundation and Trex.