The Sierra Club - Lancaster Group has awarded its Green Project grants to 11 more Lancaster County organizations, each of which has shown a need for support of a venture that promotes sustainability, expands environmental awareness, and improves green infrastructure. With this latest round of awards, ranging up to $500, a total of 63 Lancaster County organizations have received green grants from the group over the past six years.
Organizations receiving the grants, along with their projects, include BethDenny, operating as Indian Market Hives, for planting of various species of wild flowers and other flora to determine their effect on attracting native pollinators; Landis Woods Nature Preschool, buying a vermicomposter and composting worms to start a vermicomposting program that will supply the preschool's established organic garden with nutrient-rich fertilizer; and The Edible Classroom, underwriting fees for several first- to fifth-grade students to attend a summer camp at Penn Manor's Conestoga Elementary School.
Also, Lafayette Elementary School, School District of Lancaster, is creating a rain garden in its enclosed green-space/outdoor classroom that would absorb moisture in a swampy area and make it more user-friendly. Burrowes Elementary School, School District of Lancaster, is improving its current outdoor space by installing a rain barrel to conserve water. Immerse International, Millersville, is purchasing rain barrels, seeping hoses, and other parts for use in supplying more water to its Prayer Garden.
Homefields Incorporated is buying a corrugated steel pipe to shunt rain water that drains through the property (currently causing erosion problems) under a farm lane, and The Green Team, a student organization at Lancaster Mennonite High School, is planting native-to-Pennsylvania flora in areas of the school's campus that have been deforested either naturally or intentionally by construction. Arbor Place Inc., Lancaster, is purchasing raised table beds, kits, soil, and compost for the creation of an outside S.T.E.M. classroom.
Also, The Coalition for Smart Growth, 1383 Arcadia Road, Lancaster, is supporting the Coalition and the Lancaster Housing Opportunity Partnership that will host its Places2040 Summit in April 2022. Historic Poole Forge is completing its rain garden area that was established four years ago.
Proposals for receiving a grant were evaluated on criteria such as environmental objective, unique aspect of the project, quality of submission, and how the Sierra Club - Lancaster Group might be involved. Awarded once a year, the grants are funded primarily with money generated through the group's annual Polar Bear 5K Trail Run/Hike.
The deadline to apply for the next cycle of awards is Thursday, March 31, 2022. Recipients will be announced on Earth Day, Friday, April 22, 2022. For complete details about the Green Project grant program, visit http://lancastersierraclub.org/grant-program/ or contact 717-475-0586 or jimsmeenan@gmail.com.
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