March 29, 2024
Annapolis, US 40 F

$600K To Help The Bay

The Chesapeake Bay Trust has announced  $616,000 in grants awarded to 48 organizations and schools throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The awards, approved by the Trust’s Board of Trustees, will be made through the Trust’s Living Shorelines, Watershed Assistance, and Mini Grants programs and will fund projects that create wetland habitat, improve water quality, and engage students and communities in restoration and environmental education projects.

“The Trust’s Board of Trustees is pleased to support so many worthwhile projects and programs designed to improve the health of Chesapeake Bay watershed and engage its citizens in important restoration efforts,” said Tara Potter, the Trust’s board chair. “It was also great to see the number of new grantees who have received awards this cycle. A major goal of the Trust has been to expand the reach of our grant programs and engage new and more diverse communities in this critical work.”

This year the Trust will award approximately $5 million in grants to organizations and schools in every Maryland county and Baltimore City, engaging more than 110,000 students, teachers and volunteers. In this round, 19 of the 48 grants awarded were to organizations, schools or municipalities that were new applicants to these grant programs.

“The Trust is committed to diversity and inclusion in its grant-making and continually seeks to engage new leaders and new communities in efforts to restore the Bay and local waters.” stated Allen Hance, executive director of the Trust. “And all of our work in made possible by the generous support of the 350,000 Marylanders who own a Treasure the Chesapeake license plate, contribute to the Trust at tax time, or make a personal donation. This broad base of public support enables the Trust to operate as a true grassroots funder of citizen-based efforts to restore the Bay.”

Specific grant programs that were awarded include:

Living Shorelines Grant Program: $408,069 in funding for seven grants

The Trust, in partnership with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Restoration Center and the Maryland Department of the Environment, awarded funds to seven organizations to create and promote living shorelines in the Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C portions of the Bay. All of these living shorelines grant recipients were new grantees to the program, including Annapolis Cove Property Owners Association, Friends of Norfolk’s Environment, Gunston Day School, Northern Virginia Regional Commission, the Magothy Beach Improvement Association, and others.

Watershed Assistance Grant Program: $145,600 in funding for five grants

The Chesapeake Bay Trust and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources in partnership funded eight grant requests for technical planning and design assistance for restoration programs and projects that will lead to improved water quality in the Maryland portion of the Chesapeake Bay. Two new recipients of grant awards for this program included the Town of Easton and Trout Unlimited.

Mini Grants Program: $63,182 in funding for 36 grants

The Trust’s Mini Grant Program awards up to $5,000 to support activities at schools and non-profit organizations that help promote awareness and participation in the restoration and protection of the Chesapeake Bay and its rivers. Dozens of schools, including six new applicants, were awarded funding to provide K-12 students with hands-on outdoor activities that promote environmental stewardship and restoration.

For more information about these grant programs and what the Trust funds, visit www.cbtrust.org.

 

 

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