$45,000 in Grants Awarded to Local Environmental Organizations

In honor of Earth Day 2022, the Community Foundation announced that the fifth annual Environment Fund grant of $30,000 has been awarded to Sustainability Matters, an organization that supports environmental awareness and programming in the Northern Virginia area. Another $15,000 will go to the Prince William Environmental Excellence Foundation.

As the climate changes and landscapes are altered, many, especially young people, are wondering how they can work to be better stewards of nature in little ways they can do every day. Expansive problems often require creative solutions, and at Sustainability Matters, this is their modus operandi. This will in part go towards the organization’s overarching mission to support environmental awareness and programming in Northern Virginia, as well as supporting their Making Trash Bloom Initiative:

“Through conservation projects in unexpected places, Sustainability Matters brings environmental awareness to new audiences. We're excited that the Environment Fund grant enables us to expand our Making Trash Bloom project (planting native pollinator habitat at landfills) to Fairfax County, reaching the largest, most diverse community in Virginia.” -Sari Carp, Executive Director

The Prince William Environmental Excellence Foundation is an arm of the Prince William Soil and Water Conservation District, who offer a large schedule of services including conservation plans, soil sampling, conservation education for classrooms, water quality monitoring, and others in the fields of Agriculture, Youth Education, Water Quality, and Home Owners. The Foundation focuses most specifically on educating youth and adult citizens on environmental science and natural resource conservation. They even promote local food, and offer support for local farmers in Prince William County.

Since 2018, the Community Foundation for Northern Virginia has awarded over $170,000 to organizations in Northern Virginia that focus on programming, outreach, and awareness of environmental issues, and has built an Environment Fund endowment of over $730,000. In doing so, we hope to lay the foundation for a healthier, cleaner environment for the generations to come. You can learn more about the Community Foundation’s Environment Fund, which will serve as a continuing source for support to protect Northern Virginia’s natural environment, here.