USDA Grants to Help End Hunger in America

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service is accepting applications for its Hunger-Free Communities grant competition. There are two models of grants with separate pots of funding.
1) Assessment and planning grants ($1M); applicants will assess the level of hunger and food insecurity in their community and develop a plan to become hunger-free.
2) Implementation grants ($4M) are for communities that already have a plan to end hunger and need resources for program implementation.
Deadline: September 1, 2010.

Find information, the Request for Application (RFA), a Prospective Applicants webinar Recording, and Frequently Asked Questions at the USDA site.
The USDA will fund up to 80% of an awardee’s grant project; projects must be completed within 2 years. These are collaborative grants, and applicants are required to partner with one or more organizations in their communities. Applicants are also required to partner with Food Policy Councils or their functional equivalent at the local level or include the creation of a Food Policy Council as part of their application should one not serve their community.

Digital Innovation Fellowships

With support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the American Council of Learned Societies is offering six ACLS Digital Innovation Fellowships. The program supports digitally based research projects in all disciplines of the humanities and humanities-related social sciences.

ACLS Digital Innovation Fellowships are intended to support an academic year dedicated to working on a major scholarly project that takes a digital form. Projects may involve development of new digital tools that further humanistic research (such as digital research archives or innovative databases), research that depends on or is greatly enhanced by the use of such tools, the representation of such research, or some combination of these features.

One of the six projects may involve two collaborating scholars; each fellowship carries a stipend of up to $60,000 toward an academic year's leave and provides for project costs of up to $25,000.

The program is open to Ph.D.’s in all fields of the humanities and the humanistic social sciences.

Visit the ACLS site for complete program guidelines.

Deadline: September 29, 2010.

Hadassah Foundation grants for projects benefiting women

The Hadassah Foundation provides grants for gender-sensitive social change projects that encourage self-confidence and leadership skills in women and girls in the United States Jewish community.

Projects can encourage self-confidence, leadership skills, and healthy lifestyle choices among adolescent girls and young women and/or build awareness among influential adults (parents, teachers, other mentors) in their lives. Projects may also help women and/or girls achieve economic security.

RFP guidelines and instructions. Deadline: August 9, 2010.

Patagonia grassroots activist grants

Outdoor clothing and gear company Patagonia supports small, grassroots activist organizations that have provocative direct-action agendas and are working on multi-pronged campaigns to preserve and protect the environment.

Most grants are in the range of $3,000 to $8,000 each. Application deadline is August 31.

The company funds work that is action-oriented, builds public involvement and support, is strategic, focuses on root causes, and accomplishes specific goals and objectives. The company is most interested in making grants to organizations that identify and work on the root causes of problems and that approach issues with a commitment to long-term change.

Even if the library isn’t interested and/or doesn’t know of an organization that is, it might be worthwhile to contact past grantees in your community for future collaborations (see the bottom of this post for recent grantees).

In addition to the corporate grant program, each Patagonia retail store administers a year-round grants program. Retail store grant applications are accepted year round. Use the store finder

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Farmington River Watershed Association
This citizen-based organization is "at the forefront of restoration and conservation issues, such as water quality and allocation, recreational usage, open space, and wetland and floodplain protection."

Norwalk Seaport Association
Devoted to maritime preservation, education and to the Norwalk area's seafaring heritage.

Connecticut Fund for the Environment
CFE utilizes law, science and education to better air and water quality, control toxic contamination, minimize the adverse impacts of Hwy.s and traffic congestion, protect public water supplies, and preserve the open space and wetlands so crucial to both the state's citizens and its wildlife.

Connecticut River Watershed Council, Middletown
Works to protect the watershed from source to sea - from alpine forests to tidal estuaries, rural farmlands to urban riverfronts, spotted salamanders to bald eagles, and mussels to salmon.

Earthplace, Westport
Seeks to educate the community about nature and the environment with a 62-acre wildlife sanctuary, interactive natural history museum, wildlife and public nature programs and events.

Naubesatuck Watershed Council, Mansfield Center
Protects and enhances the beauty, biotic diversity, ecological interactions and structures and processes of three river systems - the Fenton, Mount Hope and Natchaug.

Soundkeeper, Norwalk
Dedicated to the protection and enhancement of the biological, physical and chemical integrity of Long Island Sound and its watershed.

Surfrider Foundation Connecticut Chapter, New Haven
Dedicated to maintaining and acquiring beach and ocean-access rights, preserving the state's coastline and improving the quality of Connecticut's coastal environment.

The Nature Conservancy-Saugatuck River Watershed Partnership, Weston
The partnership works to protect and enhance the health of the Saugatuck River watershed by working collaboratively to link, maintain and restore habitats that support natural biological diversity.

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Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy

The Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy is accepting applications for its annual national grant competition. The program helps develop or expand projects that support the development of literacy skills for adult primary care givers and their children.

A total of approximately $650,000 in grants will be awarded in 2011; grant requests should not exceed $65,000. Eligibility guidelines and the application are available at the foundation's web site. where applicants can review the competitiveness checklist and the FAQ.

This Barbara Bush Foundation grant has previously been listed BlogJunctionCT and the permanent Grant Opportunities page at CT.WebJunction.

Deadline: September 10, 2010.

Foundation Center Proposal Writing Basics materials posted

Four of the Foundation Center's Proposal Writing Basics materials and one webinar are now linked on ct.WebJunction site at this document. These are the kind of helpful, practical materials that libraries need to kick start winning proposals.

2010 Subaru Healthy Sprouts Award

The National Gardening Association and Subaru 2010 Healthy Sprouts Award is aimed at supporting schools or organizations who plan to garden in 2011 with at least 15 children between the ages of 3 and 18.

The selection of winners is based on the demonstrated relationship between the garden program and education related to environmental, nutrition and hunger issues in the United States.

A total of 30 awards will be made, including a $500 gift certificate to the Gardening with Kids catalog and online store for basic youth gardening supplies and supporting educational materials; National Gardening Association's Eat a Rainbow Kit which includes nutrition lessons and education; and a literature package from the National Gardening Association.

The deadline to apply is October 1, 2010.