County groups score $50K in grant funds
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By STEPHANIE M. PETERS STAFF WRITER - Published: June 24, 2009
Five Rutland County groups have been awarded about $50,000 through the Vermont Community Foundation, the organization announced last week.
Across the state, $286,480 was awarded to 40 organizations through the foundation's Successful Communities grant round, geared toward programs supporting civic engagement, diversity and equity, and education.
In Rutland, those awards include $10,000 for The Mentor Connector, Rutland Area Food and Farm Link, Rutland Redevelopment Authority and Vermont Achievement Center. The Poultney Mettowee Natural Resources Conservation District will receive an $8,305 award.
For some of those recipients, Vermont Community Foundation grants, which are offered in three rounds throughout the year, have become a reliable source of financial assistance. For others, the award will fuel some innovative projects.
RAFFL continues to improve upon its Locally Grown Guide, an annual publication listing area farms, farm stands, farmers' markets, value-added processors and restaurants and grocers who sell local products, and search for a piece of land to serve as a small business incubator for startup farmers, according to Tara Kelly, its executive director.
At the reins on both of those projects is India Burnett Farmer, RAFFL's program director.
"A lot of the grant will go toward funding the staff time it takes to pull these projects together," Kelly said.
For the Rutland Redevelopment Authority, meanwhile, the award represents the first piece of the $80,000 funding puzzle needed to hire consultants who will train city officials, community leaders and interested citizens on becoming an ecomunicipality, according to Executive Director Tom Macaulay.
"It's the kind of thing that, once you get involved, you realize why it's a good thing," Macaulay said.
Now paired with the Sustainable Rutland committee of the Creative Economy, Macaulay first started pursuing ecomunicpality training – which helps communities adopt sustainable practices – more than a year ago after seeing a presentation on the subject. There are still very few ecomunicipalities in the country, the closest being Portsmouth, N.H., Macaulay said.
The Vermont Achievement Center began receiving grant support from the Vermont Community Foundation in the mid-1980s, according to Traci Moore, vice president for advancement. This year it will put the support toward Kaleidoscope, a 10-week, high-energy summer program for kids ages 6 to 12 that focuses on "social interaction and physical activity," she said.
"We've been very fortunate in the sense that we receive annual support from the VCF," Moore said. "There seems to be a niche there for the programs we run for families and children."
According to the Vermont Community Foundation, The Mentor Connector will use its award to fund technical support for the organization and recruit new volunteer mentors for its programs. The Poultney Mettowee Natural Resources Conservation District, meanwhile, will use its grant to "increase capacity and public outreach by relocating its native plant nursery to a more centrally located site," the foundation announced.
stephanie.peters@rutlandherald.com
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