             Unilever Gift
Ben & Jerry's Foundation |
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Grant Recipients List for the 3rd Cycle, 1999Alliance of Forest Workers and Harvesters $8,000PO Box 137 Molalla OR 97308 The Alliance is a multicultural group of contract forest workers (tree planters, restoration technicians, etc.) and non-timber forest products harversters (edible mushrooms, floral greens, etc.) which represent a key stakeholder group that has been excluded from forest management decision-making. In this start-up year, they are beginning to organize to promote social, environmental and economic justice for forest workers and harvesters throughout the Pacific Northwest. Boston Women's Fund $6,000 14 Beacon Street, Ste. 805 Boston MA 02108 The Women of Color Fundraising Institute is a joint project of Haymarket Peoples' Fund and The Boston Women's Fund. The year-long Institute trains 20 women affiliated with ten community-based social justice organizations in New England in a broad curriculum of fundraising and economic literacy skills, thereby assisting the survival of women of color organizations in the region. This is the second year of the program. Citizens For Safe Water Around Badger $6,400 E12629 Weigand's Bay South Merrimac WI 53561 CSWAB works to empower, unify and strengthen communities around the "mothballed" Badger Army Ammunition Plant affected by environmental pollution; to restore the integrity of damaged natural systems including air, water, soil and biodiversity; and to ensure mutual respect and social justice for all peoples. Funds were provided to work in partnership with the Ho-Chunk Indian Nation to transfer in trust 3,050 acres of the Badger property to the Nation to be restored to its original prairie and oak savanna state. CSWAB and the Ho-Chunk are fighting the state on this effort. Coalicion De Derechos Humanos/Arizona Border Rights Project $8,000 631 South 6th Avenue Tucson AZ 85701 The Indigenous Alliance without Borders is working in coalition and collaboration with other indigenous nations on both sides of the international border. Their aim is to build a grassroots indigenous movement to promote respect for indigenous rights, empower indigenous peoples, document human and civil rights violations and monitor federal and state legislation that impedes and threatens indigenous rights of passage across borders. At stake is indigenous cultural preservation, self determination, sovereignty, the environment and health. Institute For Social Ecology $10,000 PO Box 89 Plainfield VT 05667 Funding is provided for the Biotechnology Education Project and the development of a new national network of biotechnology activists and critics. The project includes community outreach and education in the northeast U.S. and eastern Canada; workshops and technical/organizational support for activists; regional corporate campaigns; and ongoing coalition-building with colleagues across the U.S. and internationally. The hope is that the Biotechnology Education Project will provide a model for other grassroots organizations and will help sustain existing coalitions of food safety activists. Mothers On The Move, Inc. (MOM) $10,000 928 Intervale Avenue Bronx NY 10459 MOM is a multi-issue, grassroots membership oganization located in one of the most economically poor neighborhoods in the country. They were founded in 1992 when adult literacy students learned that the public schools their children attended ranked among the lowest in the city in reading and math scores. They began to organize collectively for the improvement of failing schools in their neighborhood and in 1994 MOM became an independent organization. Using the organizing techniques learned in their schools' campaign, MOM began working on other issues of concern in 1997 including clean air, safe streets, accessible transportation and tenant organizing. All campaigns are begun at the initiation of members of MOM and other neighborhood residents. Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition $10,000 PO Box 6753 Huntington WV 25773-6753 OVEC has been taking the lead in organizing broad-based opposition to the practice of mountaintop removal (MTR)/valley fill coal mining. In West Virginia, over 500 miles of headwater streams have already been buried by the growing practice of MTR. OVEC's organizing strategies include public forums, rallies, formal hearings, conferences, letters to the editor, press releases, newsletters and this summer's "Walk for the Mountains," spearheaded by an OVEC member who is walking across the state to draw new people into the fight to stop MTR. Safer Pest Control Project $8,000 17 E. Monroe, Suite 212 Chicago IL 60603 SPCP uses a variety of strategies to promote Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices: outreach, advocacy, technical assistance and development of model programs. Due in large part to the organizing and education of SPCP and partner groups, the Illinois legislature passed two bills that require public schools to notify parents prior to any broadcast pesticide applications in schools or on school grounds, and implement an indoor IPM program in schools. SPCP now is in the throws of its Campaign for Implementation. A great deal of work is still left to be done to implement and carry out these two laws: educating and mobilizing parents, school districts and school staff, the pest control industry and state agencies. Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group (Southern SAWG) $8,000 PO Box 324 Elkins AR 72727-0324 SSAWG is a network of approximately 40 agricultural and environmental grassroots organizations in the southern U.S. working to remove technical, institutional and macro-economic barriers to sustainability so that family farmers and farm communities can prosper in a clean, healthy environment. By creating a working structure between groups and coordinating region-wide projects, SSAWG enhances the capacity of each member organization. Washington Toxics Coalition $10,000 4649 Sunnyside Avenue North, Suite 540-E Seattle WA 98103 WTC is working to reduce children's exposure to pesticides by persuading schools to reduce pesticide use; working with farmworkers and others to end the shocking nationwide practice of adding industrial toxic wastes to fertilizers; building community support for local organic farming; and advocating for strong pesticide policies. WTC is building alliances with parents, children-oriented organizations and health care communities; as well as with farmworkers in their efforts to educate the community about the impacts of pollutants on children. WorkingFilms $10,000 200 West 72nd Street, #66 New York NY 10012 WorkingFilms is a new national organization that has a unique mission: to enact social change by using documentary films within strategic campaigns. Funding was provided for one of WorkingFilms' first pilot projects: a statewide classroom curriculum project called "From Farm to Fastfood: On the Job in North Carolina." This initiative uses independent film and media/internet literacy to address issues of workers' rights, economic justice and to ultimately link students to ongoing organizing initiatives. "Farm to Fastfood" is tied to two sets of curriculum goals: 1) 8th grade statewide social studies standards, and 2) a new set of statewide standards for middle and high school students called ELP: Economic, Legal and Political Systems in Action. Youth In Action $4,800 115 Empire Street Providence RI 02903 YIA is a new organization founded and controlled completely by youth. In its second year of operation, YIA's mission is to support local young people to become community leaders. Through YIA, experienced youth leaders train their peers to identify community problems and to create projects to help combat them. Friends of the Clinch & Powell Rivers $1,000 799 Poor Valley Road Rogersville TN 37857 Friends of the Clinch and Powell Rivers is a small grassroots environmental watchdog group. Funds were provided to purchase equipment and materials to put together an effective slide presentation of the watershed to enhance the effectiveness of their speaking presentations. West Virginia Rivers Coalition $1,000 801 North Randolph Avenue Elkins WV 26241 WVRC is a statewide membership and advocacy group which works with local watershed groups to support and strengthen their capabilities. Funds were provided so that these groups can learn how to use the Clean Water Act (CWA) law to protect their watersheds. There are two steps to this learning process: 1)providing a series of presentations to the local watershed groups on understanding the (CWA), and 2) conducting a two-day training on how to read a CWA water discharge permit and understand state permitting policy. |