Do you have an idea for a project to make our community more sustainable, resilient, or inclusive? Need a little help in covering the costs? Sustainable Finger Lakes is accepting applications for our Spring 2026 round of Neighborhood Mini-Grants in Tompkins County.
An application deadline for Schuyler, Seneca, and Yates Counties will be announced after we have secured new sponsorship for the program’s Keuka and Seneca Watersheds Chapter.
The Sustainable Finger Lakes Neighborhood Mini-Grant program supports initiatives building resilience, equity, and environmental stewardship in Tompkins County. Since it began in 2008, it has awarded over $100,000 in 246 grants to innovative grassroots projects throughout the county.
Grants range from $150 to $750 and support initiatives promoting sustainable food systems, alternative transportation, waste reduction/reuse, energy conservation/fossil fuel use reduction, environmental education, and addressing social and economic inequality.
Proposals are reviewed biannually by a team of community members. The program is sponsored in Tompkins County by the Park Foundation, Craig Riecke, and local donors.
Individuals, organizations, and neighborhood groups are welcome to apply, as are local microbusinesses seeking to green their operations or extend their products or services to low-income clientele. Priority is given to new and/or small entities with relatively few sources of financial support.
Successful initiatives supported by Neighborhood Mini-Grants in recent years include the creation of an urban neighborhood garden in Ithaca, installations of a bike repair station at the Groton Public Library and bike racks in the Village of Dryden, “senior safe tools” for a community garden at a senior apartment complex, a library cart of books for adult ESL students in Ithaca, textile repair workshops in Trumansburg, and reusable utensils in the Dryden Middle/High School cafeteria,.
Applications must be received on or before April 1, 2026. To request an application form, or if you have questions, please call (607) 272-1720 or email sasha@sustainablefingerlakes.org.
