Audubon, Toyota award conservation grants
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Forty-one projects in 24 states will receive TogetherGreen Conservation Innovation Grants totaling $1.4 million dollars.
Winners were selected from applicants nationwide for their innovative approaches to inspiring, equipping and engaging people to tackle environmental problems and take advantage of opportunities in their communities. The projects are the first to be funded by the new TogetherGreen Initiative created by Audubon with support from Toyota.
Sample projects that received funding include: engaging low-income students in middle schools to devise and implement energy saving plans (Denver, Colo); constructing gardens to stem storm water overflows that carry pollutants and disease-laden sewage into homes and waterways (Pittsburgh); involving the public in hands-on strategies for restoring vanishing wetlands vital to flood control (coastal Louisiana); and reducing bird fatalities caused by their attraction to the lights in high-rise buildings (Minneapolis, Minn.).
A complete list of all 41 grants is available at www.togethergreen.org. Many projects target inner-city and non-English speaking audiences previously underserved by the environmental community.
"Our biggest environmental problems can't be solved unless we engage people from every ethnic, racial and economic community that makes up America and help them realize their power to make a difference in their own communities," says Audubon President John Flicker. "These TogetherGreen Innovation Grants help local groups to engage people and to start achieving tangible conservation results at the same time."
More than 120 applications were submitted in the grant categories of water, habitat and energy conservation. Each winning team combines a local Chapter or unit of Audubon's large national network with one or more community organizations to better advance the twin objectives of public engagement and environmental enhancement.
Selected proposals receive grants ranging from $68,000 to $5,000, with lower amounts earmarked for further planning of promising initiatives. The grants leveraged an estimated $4.5 million in additional matching and in-kind support.
For more informaiton, visit www.toyota.com/community.
