A regular highlight of the year for the Foundation is awarding grants, both our Community Grants offered twice annually and Norm Winn grants. This spring, a total of 19 applications were received for the small grants award round. Of those applicants, six stood out and were funded at the $5,000 maximum.
The Foundation’s Community Grants fund qualifying nonprofit organizations’ programs and projects that preserve and protect environments and living organisms of the Salish Sea region. We are pleased to share the recipients of this round of small grant awards:
- Bellingham SeaFeast: The grant will fund their Community Net Project, which addresses plastic pollution in oceans through education, hands-on workshops, and beach cleanups. The funds will also support a social media campaign and workshop materials, raising awareness about marine conservation.
- Fraser River Discovery Centre Society: The Building Climate Resilience workshops funded through the grant will educate more than 1,000 K-12 students on climate topics such as salmon habitat restoration, eelgrass conservation, and environmental DNA monitoring to promote conservation action.
- Friends of the Anacortes Community Forest Lands: The grant will allow the group to provide free in-school and field-based forest education to more than 900 students (kindergarten, 3rd, and 7th grade) in the Anacortes School District to foster a lifelong connection to local forests and conservation.
- SEA Discovery Center/WWU Foundation: The grant will fund the group’s free school field trip program, which will bring 800 Kitsap and tribal 5th and 6th graders to the SEA Discovery Center aquarium for marine science education, including a visit to a Suquamish shellfish farm.
- Washington’s National Park Fund: The funds will support the transportation and supplies needs for the Middle School Science Program. The program brings more than 460 students to Olympic National Park for hands-on science education, including climate studies, glacier monitoring, and habitat restoration. Funds will cover transportation and supplies.
- RSBC Rivershed Society of British Columbia: The grant will support the group’s Watershed Workforce Program, which introduces high school students to environmental careers through voyageur canoe trips, Indigenous knowledge sharing, and hands-on restoration work. The goal is to prepare students for meaningful careers in conservation.
The Foundation Grants Committee carefully reviews each application and provides their recommendations to our board who further reviews their recommendations, ensuring they align with our mission and vision, as well as give way for diverse and underserved communities to access outdoor educational opportunities and experiences. If your organization or an organization in your community would like to be considered for a Community Grant, the grant application and details are on our website. And if you are passionate about our grants program, you may donate directly to our grants fund to ensure we’ll be able to continue this vital program.
– Mindy Roberts, Secretary