Past Grants

University of Maryland Environmental Finance Center

Toward the launching of a virtual farmers’ market website, connecting buyers and sellers with availability of local produce. This project is among the first of its kind in the country, and provides an online venue for informing the general public about when food is harvested, how much is available, and where it can be purchased from local farmers’ markets.

Waterkeeper Alliance, Inc .

Toward support of the Chesapeake Stormwater Initiative, a collaborative project of local waterkeepers organized to monitor and initiate legal action against noncompliant developers known to be polluting the waterways. The regional office coordinates the activities of the “Get Out the Dirt” campaign, focusing on the reduction of stormwater from construction sites.

1000 Friends of Maryland

Challenge grant for continued support of staffing and expenses related to the Partners for Open Space campaign, to ensure full funding for Program Open Space. The campaign will also ensure that Program Open Space funds are spent strategically through the development of targeted and ranked priorities: 1) discussion of the transfer tax revenues for new programs, such as operating needs of state parks and forests; and 2) the need to engage in a public debate about the important role of open space and ongoing protection of the state’s natural resources.

American Farmland Trust

For staffing costs and related expenses to facilitate the implementation of recommendations set out in Maryland’s Statewide Plan for Agricultural Policy and Resource Management, and to build support for proposed reforms of the 2007 Farm Bill. The Trust will continue to provide community outreach and bridge farming communities with the environmental community, promote a more viable and sustaining agriculture economy in Maryland, help open greater access to fresh and locally grown food to local markets, and work toward tripling the protected acreage of productive farmland by 2022.

Audubon Maryland-DC

For continued support of educational services at the Audubon Center in Patterson Park. Joint programming with the Friends of Patterson Park is helping to change the perception of safety issues in the park and continuing to increase the overall visitation and use of the park. Working closely with neighboring schools, Audubon offers in-classroom curricula and integrates into the program Maryland Content Standards, field trips, and end-of-year service projects for elementary, middle, and high school students. After-school programming offers a 15-week series for third-grade through fifth-grade students to learn about bird biology.