The Greenbelt Community Foundation (GCF) has announced that two local organizations have been awarded grants in its latest funding cycle. Chesapeake Education, Arts and Research Society (CHEARS) and S.I.T.Y. Stars Academy have received grants in support of projects that contribute to the Greenbelt community. The $5,000 grant from GCF will allow S.I.T.Y. Stars Academy to launch the Get Greenbelt Moving program (GGM). The objective of GGM is to encourage families to get fit and have fun together as they attend free workshops throughout town. All residents will be welcome and the monthly workshops will offer not only take-home gifts such as a free jump rope but will feature the S.I.T.Y. Stars Jump Rope team. They have performed on Nickelodeon Television for a Public Service Announcement with First Lady Michelle Obama, in the Disney movie Jump In!, at the Cherry Blossom Parade and Festival, and many other locations and events. The second grant recipient is CHEARS, a no-office nonprofit organization that focuses on intergenerational environmental education, arts, research, and facilitating community stewardship practices to restore the health of the Chesapeake bioregion. They were founded in 2006 and run projects implemented by volunteers and sustained through community partnerships.
This $3,621 grant will allow for the launching of a brand new project focusing on developing a series of workshops and crowd-sourcing citizen science seed trials designed to increase the community’s understanding of seeds and engagement in intergenerational seed saving activities. A long term goal is to establish a local plant research exchange library cooperative that fosters links between urban and rural areas and older and younger residents of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. Chesapeake Open Seed Quest/Greenbelt Intergenerational is designed to involve senior citizens with accessible community gardens, to work against the isolation that older citizens often experience and to locate seed banks within senior communities. Grant applications are carefully considered based on viability, effect on the community and on the funding available during the given grant cycle. To help support these and future projects, GCF encourages donations and promotion of the funded events. GCF’s mission is to support worthwhile initiatives by local organizations benefiting the Greenbelt community. GCF has two grant cycles a year; grant awards range from $500 to $5,000 and are given to Greenbelt community groups, cooperatives and nonprofit organizations. Interested groups may next apply for a grant on April 15 for new or existing projects.
Community Foundation Awards Grants to Two Local Projects
Sity Stars performed at Celebration of Spring this past Saturday. They were great! And invited the audience to participate!