10-2SG Greener Hopkinton
Grant Application
Grant Round:
2010 September
Grant Program:
Small Grants
Grant Type:
Other Grants
Grant amount requested:
1,650.00
Grant amount awarded:
$1,650.00
Please provide a brief description of the project for which you seek funding.
Funding for Constant Contact E-Newsletter. We send out e-newsletters about once a month that include a Local Flavor Section, information about energy efficiency, local foods and organic gardening. We also send out regular announcements about environmental activities (workshops, etc) that are sponsored by other local groups. $255 Carbon Challenge. We are planning to participate in a Carbon Challenge sponsored by Clean Air-Cool Planet. $150 Energy Efficiency Improvements in Hopkinton Homes - We hope to be able to weatherize homes in cooperation with the Capital Area Community Action Program. We have been in communication with the Coordinator, and he is investigating the feasibility of this collaboration from a legal point of view. It is not likely that we will peform this type of work unless we can do it in coordination with Concord Area Community Action Program. $720 Education - We will sponsor approximatley three speakers and/or environmentally-themed movies. We have done this in the past and have had very good turnout at some of the events. Possible speaker topics include organic gardening, greening your home, climate change science for the lay person. $150 Community Garden. Next summmer will the the third year for our community garden. Funds will be used for fertilizer and other soil amendments as needed. We will have the soil tested by the UNH Cooperative Extension program to determine what kind of amendments are necessary. Compost and amendments are bought locally to support our community. $150
Project Summary
Greener Hopkinton received a grant in 2010 to pay the annual fee to Constant Contact to host its e-newsletter, weatherization materials for 12 volunteer home efficiency visits, soil amendments for the community garden and incidental speaker costs for evening speaking events.
Primary Issue Area:
Climate Change & Energy
Please break-down/categorize the program expenses:
| Proposed Item | Estimated $ Amount | Would grant funds be used for this item? |
|---|---|---|
| E-Newsletter Subscription | $255.00 | Yes |
| Carbon Challenge Fee to CA-CP | $150.00 | Yes |
| Weatherproofing Supplies | $720.00 | Yes |
| Education - Speakers, Movies | $150.00 | Yes |
| Room for Speakers/Movies | $150.00 | |
| Community Garden Fertilizer & Amendments (1/2 w grant) | $300.00 | Yes |
Whom does your group need to make this project happen?
Please explain how your group will engage members from your community in this project.
We will engage community members primarily by publicizing events in our e-newsletter. Realizing that we are not reaching the entire community, we regularly write articles for inclusion in the school e-newsletters, the library e-newsletter and local newspapers. The 200 people that we expect to engage are those that will read our newsletter (at least 100), 30 to 60 at various speaker events, about 12 will participate in weatherproofing of area homes. We hope to have at least 20 gardening plots in active use next year. Several of these garden plots are tended by couples or families.
If your group receives a NEGEF Grow grant, how do you plan to pay for remaining expenses?
| $ Amount | Source |
|---|---|
| $1,650.00 | NEGEF Grant |
| $300.00 | Community Garden Plot Fees 20 * 15 (subject to Selectmen's approval to expend) |
Please list these materials or services
| $ Amount | Item |
|---|---|
| $4,710.00 | Volunteer Hours. 233 hrs * $20 |
| $150.00 | Room at Library or Senior Center |
| $50.00 | Donations of Snacks, etc. |
Please describe what changes will occur in your community and its environment when your group's project is successful.
E-Newsletter. We have received comments from many readers that they really appreciate the information gleaned from the e-newsletters. On Constant Contact, we are able to generate reports on readership. We consistently score above the average in the number of e-newsletters opened and linked pages accessed as compared to other Constant Contact users. We even rank higher than the average for the "non-profit groups" category. We will continue to monitor the effectiveness of the e-newsletter in this way. Carbon Challenge. Clean Air-Cool Planet has expanded the program to allow for monitoring of the challenge, including a web page for each participating community. Energy Efficiency - We plan to weatherize about 12 homes at the cost of $60 per home, working as volunteers for the Community Action Program. If funding is available thorugh the CAP, we will not access the $720. (We are waiting from a response from the project coordinator. The cost of $60 per home was suggested to us by the Colebrook Energy Committee, which has been doing similar projects for the past two years. If we do this under the Community Action Program, we can also assist them in their weatherization projects by reporting on larger issues in the homes that require more professional assistance. Education. Speakers and movies will educate the community on energy efficiency, climate change and/or sustainable communities. We have no specific speakers or movies planned at this time. We can measure the success of this project by the number of people that attend the events. Community Garden. Next summer will be our third year. We hope to expand the number of gardeners next year. The first year we had 9 gardeners, last year we had 16. We will have the soil tested again next year to determine what amendments are needed. A measurement of our success in this endeavor would be to see an increase the number of community gardeners.
Please list how many people in your community your group expects to actively engage in this project.
200
What relevant skills does the group need (but does not currently have access to) to help move the initiative forward?
We could use training in weatherproofing homes. We hope to receive this training through the CAP coordinator or a volunteer who works in the field.
What relevant skills do current members of the group have to help move the initiative forward?
Two members serve as the e-newsletter editors, writing most of the articles and editing each others work. One (an engineer) of the editors has particular knowledge/interest in climate change and energy efficiency, while the other (an attorney) has knowledge/interest in sustainable communities and gardening. Other members are employed in the renewable energy field; one works in energy administration in state agency and another is Exectutive Director of Conservation New Hampshire. Two members, one of which manages a neighborhood community garden, serve on a sub-committee for the community garden. Other members include a registered nurse, two teachers, a public health agency outreach coordinator and a member of the recycling committee.