ADDISON COUNTY — The Vermont Community Foundation has announced that it has given Small and Inspiring grants to 30 project across the state — including four in Addison County.
Four nonprofit organizations in Addison County received a total of $8,000 in Small and Inspiring grants from VCF. One of a number of competitive grant rounds at the Community Foundation, the Small and Inspiring grants program funds work that helps connect people to their neighbors, their land and their history in ways that strengthen community.
“We are lucky to be living in a place where neighbors care deeply for one another,” said Jen Peterson, vice president of program and grants at the Middlebury foundation. “We are honored to support these community-building efforts and believe they are critical to maintaining a healthy and vital state.”
The local grants went to the following:
•  Building Bright Futures in Middlebury received $1,500 to support evening programs that provide parents with tools, resources, tips and expert insight into raising happy and healthy children.
•  Common Ground Center in Starksboro received $2,500 to support scholarships to the center’s Adventure vacation camps for local youth in financial need.
•  Cornwall’s Bingham Memorial Elementary School received $1,500 to support community meals connecting students, farmers and community as they engage in meaningful conversations about what it is to be a “Cornwallian.”
•  John Graham Shelter of Vergennes received $2,500 to support a program that will connect community members with new Americans to help them become vital members of their communities by providing friendship, translation, transportation and more.
Nonprofits interested in applying for a Small and Inspiring grant are encouraged to visit www.vermontcf.org/SmallandInspiring for more information. The first deadline of 2017 will be Feb. 1 at 5 p.m.