Environmental stewardship can begin early in life if adults have the resources for teaching it. In October 2023, Sustainable Finger Lakes awarded three Neighborhood Mini-Grants for school initiatives helping students to reduce their waste and share their knowledge.
(To help the Neighborhood Mini-Grant program keep giving, please donate to our 2023 Giving Tuesday campaign.)
BJM Families Together, the Parent-Teacher Association of Beverly J. Martin Elementary School in the City of Ithaca, received a mini-grant to buy a compost bin for the school’s vegetable garden and a Little Free Library to install in front of the school. The bin will receive garden waste and facilitate lessons in composting, and the Little Free Library will offer students and caretakers a place to give or get books as they arrive and leave.
The Dryden Middle/High School Sustainability Club received a mini-grant to equip the Dryden Middle School and Dryden High School cafeterias with metal forks, knives, and spoons, replacing the single-use plastic utensils that are bought, used, and trashed there in their thousands each month. The club has already helped these school cafeterias transition to reusable dishes and educated the student populations on using them.
Lehman Alternative Community School on Ithaca’s West Hill received a mini-grant for mobile bicycle repair stations that students will use to learn bicycle repair, fix their own bikes, and bring educational workshops to West Hill communities. This will increase local self-sufficiency and make bicycling a more viable transit option in an area where many people lack access to bicycle repair facilities.
The Neighborhood Mini-Grant Program provides seed money to diverse initiatives to build environmental, economic, and social resilience and well-being in Tompkins County. The program is supported by NYSEG, the Park Foundation, and local donors. The next deadline to apply for a Mini-Grant is April 1, 2024. To request an application or learn more, email sasha@sustainablefingerlakes.org.
