Cooperative Extension, Praising Kids each seek grants to improve food security, reduce food waste
Community support through online voting can help secure the funding
Two organizations in Orleans County are seeking grants to improve the local food system. Community support through online voting, from Jan. 4-10, can help the Cornell Cooperative Extension and Praising Kids Child Care Center secure grants from Flourishing in Community, which is part of the EPA’s Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Grantmaking Program.
The Cooperative Extension seeks a $75,000 grant to create a Master Composters program and a program coordinator position.
“The program would work to improve the lives of county residents by increasing food security and decreasing food waste,” said Robert Batt, CCE executive director.
Praising Kids is seeking a $15,250 grant for raised beds for a garden, a greenhouse, and take-home gardening kits.
To vote online, click here and then register to vote. The Cooperative Extension project number is ID: 226 and Praising Kids is ID: 428.
The Cooperative Extension would use its grant to train Master Composter volunteers who would offer composting workshops to the community.
Participants would receive classroom instruction on proper composting methods and complete community-based projects to meet needs in the local food system. Those projects might include things like food waste collection, gleaning, and building pallet composters for home use, Batt said.
Once a classroom session and a service project are completed, participants would receive a home composting set-up worth over $200. Orleans CCE expects to reach about 120 households through the workshops, he said.
“Through composting, the program would decrease food waste and direct it towards a productive purpose and empower those growing their own food at home to improve their yields through healthier soil with minimal cost and environmental impact,” Batt said.
Praising Kids in its application says it wants to offer a year-round gardening and nutrition program for the youth enrolled in the child care program. This will include 1-2 hours of weekly instruction provided by the Cornell Cooperative Extension on gardening and age-appropriate nutrition information.
“This learning will be reinforced with additional garden time supervised by Praising Kids staff,” Praising states in the application. “This time will be less structed and allow children to experience the positive psychological benefits of time spent in greenspace, develop motor coordination, and develop comfort in the environment.”
Families also will receive take home gardening kits with seeds for plants that they can grow at home.
