The Sierra Club - Lancaster Group, as part of its Earth Day activities on April 22, awarded Green Project Grants to 13 more Lancaster County organizations. Each of the organizations submitted proposals revealing a need for support of a venture that promotes sustainability, expands environmental awareness, and improves green infrastructure.

Those receiving the 2023 grants, along with their projects, include Bright Side Opportunities Center for the installation of a raised organic garden bed and two rain barrels; Church of the Apostles, Lancaster, supplies for its children's Science in the Park Program; Conservation Foundation of Lancaster County for materials and supplies for a professional development mini-course for Lancaster County teachers that concentrates on nature sketching; Gardens Gone Native Garden Club to beautify a quarter acre triangle of lawn in Lancaster Township; Greystone Manor Therapeutic Riding Center to support appropriate manure management on its property through the end of 2023; Hempfield Family Child Development Center for a raised bed for use by children in attendance; and Historic Poole Forge to improve its wetland in the center of the pollinator area and adjacent rain garden with additional native trees and plants.

Grants were also awarded to Homefields for a new public event on Sunday, July 9, as part of the official NABA July Butterfly Count; Landis Woods Nature Preschool to purchase a table top incubator that will allow students enrolled in its expanded Life Sciences Unit to observe the incubation process of chicks; Lititz Area Mennonite School to create an outdoor learning space for its students that includes the removal of invasive species and the establishment of new ground cover; Mary Gattis LLC (on behalf of a committee of concerned women who care about the benefits of native trees) to place new educational tree signs on 20 native trees currently growing in Lititz Springs Park; Millersville International House to transform the flower bed in front of its main residential building into an area of native plants; and St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church, Lititz, for improving and developing new programming for its "Sacred Grounds" project, which has converted several sections of its campus into a native forest and meadow that fosters biodiversity and storm water infiltration.

Charitable, educational, or business organizations in Lancaster County that demonstrate a commitment to the Sierra Club's mission of exploring, enjoying, and protecting the planet are eligible to apply for a grant of $500 or less. The deadline to apply for the next cycle of awards is Sunday, March 31, 2024. For complete details about the Green Project Grant Program, visit http://lancastersierraclub.org/grant-program or contact 717-475-0586 or jimsmeenan@gmail.com.