            
Ben & Jerry’s Foundation |
. |
Grant Recipients List for the 1st Quarter, 2006Blue Mountains Biodiversity Project $10,000 - General SupportClive, IA BMBP works to protect and restore the diverse natural ecosystems of the Blue Mountains and Eastern Cascade Mountains ecosystems. Strategies include, monitoring four National Forests, field-checking timber sales, and litigating ecologically destructive sales, as well as hosting public educational forums on ecologically-sound fire ecology and restoration work. The issues BMBP address include commercial logging, mining, toxic chemical use (e.g. herbicides), biocontrols and genetic engineering, species eradication programs, livestock grazing and the impacts of multinational trade agreements and institutions leveraging corporate power. California Prison Moratorium Project $10,000 - General Support Oakland, CA CPMP is a volunteer-run organization which organizes with activists in rural California towns fighting prison construction. CPMP seeks to stop all new prison construction in California and to divert those funds towards public health, education, environmental protection, and other social problems. Their core belief is that mass incarceration and specifically prison and jail expansion harms, rather than boosts, public safety and public health. Through grassroots organizing, their work empowers people in poor, largely Latino rural towns where prisons are built and being proposed, and builds links between those communities and the urban neighborhoods from which most prisoners are taken. Cascadia Wildlands Project $7,500 - Legacy Forests Campaign Eugene, OR CWP works to defend the forest, waters and wildlife and the Cascadia Bioregion. Continued funding was provided in support of the Legacy Forests Campaign, designed to confront the Bush administration's agenda for old-growth forests, and to permanently protect these icon forests in Oregon by mobilizing thousands of residents through their grassroots campaign work. Center for Immigrant Families $14,000 - Escuela Popular de Mujeres/Women’s Popular Education School New York, NY CIF’s mission is to address, in a holistic way, the interconnected challenges facing low-income immigrant women of color, including personal/psychological well-being, health, and development to the root causes of the challenges they face. Funding was provided in support of Escuela Popular de Mujeres/Women’s Popular Education School, the “heart” of CIF’s work and the source from which all their projects and campaigns develop. Citizens Coal Council $12,000 - General Support Washington, PA CCC is the only national organization dedicated to challenging and changing the practices of the coal industry to protect both people and the environment. General operating funds were provided to continue a range of programs to help coordinate grassroots groups in the coalfields in their efforts to hold regulatory agencies and mining firms accountable. Committee For The Improvement of Dickenson County (CIDC) $7,500 - Water Monitoring & Outreach Project Clintwood, VA CIDC’s mission is to protect and improve water quality, especially within the tributaries draining into John W. Flannagan Reservoir located in the heart of the Appalachian coalfields region. CIDC aims to recruit volunteers, organize water testing field days, research potential contaminants and water pollution sources, teach people the necessary skills needed to report findings, and utilize the media and meetings to educate, inform, and energize the public to create positive change. Cook Inletkeeper $5,000 - Tribal Coalition for Cook Inlet Homer, AK CIF’s mission is to address, in a holistic way, the interconnected challenges facing low-income immigrant women of color, including personal/psychological well-being, health, and development to the root causes of the challenges they face. Funding was provided in support of Escuela Popular de Mujeres/Women’s Popular Education School, the “heart” of CIF’s work and the source from which all their projects and campaigns develop. Dakota Rural Action $14,000 - Dakota Rural Action’s Family Farm Campaign Brookings, SD DRA is a grassroots family agriculture and conservation group that organizes South Dakotans to protect their family farmers and ranchers, natural resources, and unique way of life. Continued funding was provided in support of th Stop Factory Farms! Campaign, which is working to organize people around the dairy factory farm issue, and specifically to support and protect South Dakotans Right of Initiative and Referendum, which allows people at the local level to challenge decisions made by their county commissions or change county laws through an initiated measure process. These are key tools to allow citizens to protect their communities from industrial dairy facilities. DARE - Direct Action for Rights and Equality $10,000 - General Support Providence, RI DARE organizes low-income families in communities of color for social, economic, and political justice. General support funding was provided in support of DARE’s campaigns to build stronger communities through community access to publicly-funded jobs, youth leadership for school reform, ending human rights abuses in prisons, and creating safer neighborhoods through police accountability. District of Columbia Grassroots Empowerment Project (Empower DC) $10,000 - Affordable Housing Campaigns Washington, DC Empower DC’s mission is to improve, enhance, and promote the self-advocacy of low- and moderate-income residents of the District of Columbia in order to bring about sustainable improvements in their quality of life. Funding was provided in support of their organizing efforts to create and preserve, quality, affordable housing in DC. Environmental Community Action, Inc. (ECO-Action) $10,000 - General Support Atlanta, GA ECO-Action works with Georgia communities confronting environmental health threats and that strive for positive social change. They provide organizing assistance and training to disenfranchised communities throughout the state and bring them together to build alliances and create models for organizing around toxics. ECO-Action is also working to build an infrastructure of support for a regulatory shift to the “precautionary principle” by bringing together community-based organizations with new partnerships, primarily women’s and children’s health advocates and public health professionals. Eyak Preservation Council $7,500 - Copper River Delta-Prince William Sound-Chugach National Forest Watershed Campaign Cordova, AK CYOC Chinatown Project engages recent immigrant, working class Chinese youth in working for change around labor issues in Chinatown. While developing their skills as community organizers, youth investigate community conditions through house visits, building relationships of trust with workers, and using popular education methodology to facilitate collective discussions with and develop leadership capacities of workers to address issues of exploitation and oppression. Global Community Monitor $12,500 - National Bucket Brigade Program San Francisco, CA Internationally renowned for their innovative use of air sampling buckets known as “bucket brigades”, GCM trains and supports communities in the use of environmental monitoring tools to understand the impact of fossil fuel industry pollution on their health and the environment. GCM is an effective incubator for community-based groups to develop the skills, expertise, and experience needed to win their demands around environmental health and human rights. They also play a critical role in linking these “fenceline” communities from across the nation. Ongoing support was provided to allow GCM to continue to expand the work into non-refinery communities over-burdened by chemical pollution. Indigenous Environmental Network: REDOIL Network $14,000 - Resisting Environmental Destruction on Indian Lands, (REDOIL) Bemidji, MN Resisting Environmental Destruction on Indian Lands (REDOIL) is a newly formed network of Alaska Natives fighting big oil and working to address the human and ecological health impacts of the unsustainable development practices of the fossil fuel industry across Alaska. REDOIL was formed to help geographically and culturally diverse grassroots Alaskan Natives plan and organize strategically around oil and gas development. Institute for Responsible Technology $7,500 - General Support Fairfield, IA Through education, grassroots organizing, and mass media messaging, the IRT seeks to curb the cultivation and consumption of genetically modified crops and food until a scientific consensus deems such products safe and appropriate. IRT acts as a resource for grassroots groups working on this issue across the country. Funding was provided in support of the GM-Free Schools Campaign and the Manufacturer Campaign. Minnesota Alliance of HUD Tenants (MnAHT) $7,500 - MnAHT Policy Reform Project Minneapolis, MN MnAHT is a tenant-led, grassroots organization committed to being an effective voice at the local, state, and federal levels of government for the preservation of both HUD and Rural Development (RD) subsidized housing. Movimiento por Justicia del Barrio $15,000 - General Support New York, NY MJB is a new multi-issue, membership-led community organization dedicated to organizing the leaders of El Barrio (East Harlem) to lead the way to social justice. General support funding was provided to help pay the salary of their organizer to continue the work already begun helping tenants organize themselves into tenant associations to fight for housing justice and combat negative effects of gentrification. Nashville Homeless Power Project $15,000 - General Support (Start Up Funds) Nashville, TN NHPP is a start-up organization made up of homeless and formerly homeless people confronting the root causes necessary to eradicate homelessness while protecting the basic human rights of those who remain in the streets. General support funding was provided in order to help transform NHPP from an all volunteer organization into an organization with a staff of two and a strong leadership team and membership. Oregon Physicians For Social Responsibility $7,500 - Campaign For Safe Food Portland, OR Oregon PSR promotes policies that protect human health from global environmental degradation, toxins, nuclear war and other weapons of mass destruction. Continued funding was provided in support of the Campaign for Safe Food, the goal of which is to advance the establishment of an agricultural system and food supply in Oregon that does not use genetically engineered organisms. The project focuses on two specific goals: 1)Discontinue the production of any dairy products in Oregon from cows treated with Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH); and 2) ensure there is no risk of food or environmental contamination by biopharmaceutical (biopharm) crops. Pioneer Valley Project $10,000 - School Organizing Project Springfield, MA PVP’s goal is to relieve conditions of poverty, racism, discrimination, dependency, unemployment and underemployment and to prevent further deterioration of communities in the Southern Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts. Working through member congregations and labor unions to identify priority needs, PVP develops leadership to make concrete changes in the community. Funding was provided in support of demonstration parent and teacher organizing programs to improve Springfield schools by implementing relationship-building strategies to create real partnerships between parents and teachers. Reflect and Strengthen $10,000 - What’s the 411?: Grassroots Organizing Campaign Dorchester, MA Reflect and Strengthen is a youth-initiated, youth-led collective of young women. By bringing together young women of diverse races and ethnicities from Boston’s working class neighborhoods, R&F has created an institution that nurtures young women to be taught and empowered to challenge the power structures that impact their lives and to create positive social change through creative expression, political education and community building. Sand Mountain Concerned Citizens $5,000 - General Support Ider, AL SMCC strives to educate the public to the dangers of corporate factory hog farm, and to improve state and federal regulations governing swine Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs). Continued general support funding was provided. Seattle Young People’s Project (SYPP) $10,000 - Youth Leadership Development Projects Seattle, WA SYPP is a youth-led, adult-supported, social change organization that empowers youth to express themselves and take action on the issues that affect their lives by providing a framework for youth organizing. General support funding was provided for their youth leadership development programs. Universal Health Care Action Network of Ohio — UHCAN Ohio $5,000 - Coalition for Affordable Healthcare in Ohio Columbus, OH UHCAN Ohio works throughout the state for high quality, accessible, affordable and publicly accountable health care for all Ohioans through education, empowering people and organizations, and participation in state and local policy change. Support was provided in order to help hire a part-time field organizer for the Coalition for Affordable Health Care in Ohio during the 2006 state elections. The field organizer will organize local networks in two key areas of the state to elevate health care as a key issue in the elections. A matching grant was offered in order to help leverage more Ohio-based funding for this work. Utah Rivers Council $7,000 - Organizing Public Support for Alternatives to Damming and Diverting the Bear River Salt Lake City, UT URC is a grassroots organization that works to protect Utah’s rivers and clean water sources through organizing, advocacy, research, education, community leadership, and when necessary, litigation. Funding was provided in support of their work to protect the Bear River from wasteful, harmful plans to dam the river and divert 18-70% of the its flow. By bringing together a diverse coalition opposed to the dam and documenting the harms that would be caused, they will also create broad public support for alternatives to the proposed project. Vermont Citizens Campaign for Health (VCCH) $5,000 - General Support Brattleboro, VT VCCH is a statewide grassroots health care reform coalition representing diverse social, political, economic and community groups. Their mission is to create a health care system that is universally accessible and affordable. General operating support was provided for their public education, outreach and political action work. Yaak Valley Forest Council $10,000 - General Support Troy, MT YVFC works to permanently protect the last remaining roadless cores in Yaak Valley through wilderness designation and other management tools; maintain and restore the valley’s ecological integrity by conserving and improving habitat for populations of native species; encourage and support the development of local economies increasingly based on stewardship principles, value-added forest products, habitat conservation and ecological restoration; and empower local residents through education and solidarity toward the stated mission. YVFC is committed to cultivating and encouraging meaningful dialog between historically polarized groups in the valley as well as the region, bringing these groups to the same table to find common ground on ecosystem-based forest management practices. Continued funding was provided for general support. Youth Media Council $15,000 - Unplug Clear Channel Campaign Oakland, CA YMC works to develop the leadership of youth and people of color to fight media criminalization and bias, increase the capacity of organizing groups to control public debate, and build infrastructure to transform media structure and policy. Funding was provided to allow them to conduct one town hall meeting with community stakeholders in support of their “For the Love of Radio, Unplug Clear Channel Campaign”, the aim of which is to challenge the renewal of Clear Channel’s broadcast license in the Bay Area. In response to the media conglomerate’s promulgation of right wing bias and lack of accountability to the needs of the local community, YMC has initiated a training program for youth of color to develop their skills and capacity to lead this campaign in partnership with local arts and organizing groups. Ecumenical Ministries, Inc. $1,000 - ACT — II, All Congregations Together Fairhope, AL Funding was provided to help hire a local community organizer for ACT-II, All Congregations Together. ACT-II works to raise awareness of community problems, engage people in civic processes, train community leaders, build relationships with local public officials, and bring together community members from all sectors of the community. New Hampshire Task Force on Women & Addiction $1,000 - Women’s Leadership Training Initiative Manchester, NH Funding was provided for the Women’s Leadership Training Initiative, which trains recovering survivors to facilitate a series of leadership workshops that teach women to use their own experience to advocate for critical services for themselves and their children. People First of California, Inc. $1,000 - Laptop & Internet provision for board members Sacramento, CA People First is a grassroots, statewide, self-advocacy organization run by and for people with developmental disabilities that connects over 100 chapters and other self-advocacy groups in California. Funding was provided to help purchase laptops with modems and software and internet access for their 15 board members. Peoples Law Empowerment Center $567.00 - Harlem Organizing Forums New York, NY People’s Law Empowerment Center is a group community residents and activists that provide legal support and advocate for poor and low-income Harlem residents. Funding was provided in support of their outreach and organizing work addressing issues of affordable housing, and education. Project SeaWolf Coastal Protection $975 - Salmon Friendly Lawns Marysville, WA Project SeaWolf is an all-volunteer marine ecosystem advocacy group, focusing on public education campaigns and promotion of conservation efforts to protect orca whale and marine wildlife habitat on the West Coast. Funding was provided for the Salmon Friendly Lawns campaign, to encourage homeowners not to use toxic chemicals during gardening, in order to reduce runoff in streams and rivers. Public School 24 (Bronx) $1,000 - Rosa’s Park Bronx, NY Funding was provided in support of Rosa’s Park, an school garden program which serves to educate, enlighten and engage children by providing them with the experience of growing and cooking their own food. River Water Works $1,000 - WaterWorks: A River Journey to the Sea Somerset, PA Funding was provided for “WaterWorks: A River Journey to the Sea”, an interdisciplinary river and watershed education program traveling from the Chautaqua Lake in western New York State and following the flow of water as it makes its way down the Allegheny, Ohio, and Lower Mississippi Rivers. Along the way the program is stopping in at least 26 schools and two museums to present audiences of adults and fourth-graders. Southern Appalachian Forest Coalition (SAFC) $1,000 - Collaboration and Information Management System Asheville, NC SAFC is a 22-member coalition that works for the protection and restoration of wildlands, waters, native forests, and ecosystems of the Southern Appalachian region. Seed funding was provided in support of their new Collaboration and Information Management System (CIMS), a strategic technology tool designed to track data, examine combined project effects for landscape level implications, and evaluate effectiveness of efforts to stop or modify harmful projects in six states. The system will ensure that no projects are overlooked and that attention to projects is correctly prioritized, allow SAFC groups to assist with forest watch, develop and implement key strategies, and inform the public of the implications of administration and forest service policies. Voces de West Tampa $1,000 - Resist Gentrification Tampa, FL Voces is a grassroots organization of artists, low-income and immigrant residents of West Tampa that is organizing residents to resist gentrification of their neighborhood through a series of training and planning workshops. Total Granted $282,042 |