Grant available for community gardeners

[chris...@riseup.net]

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The below info is about a grant available to upstate community gardeners.
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COMMISSIONER ANNOUNCES NEW GRANT FOR COMMUNITY GARDENS

New York State Agriculture Commissioner Patrick Hooker today announced
the availability of funding for community gardens throughout the State.
The Community Garden Organization Capacity Building Grant Program will
provide up to $5,000 per applicant on a first come, first served basis to
strengthen existing community gardens and support local garden
coalitions.

This one-time grant offering will provide up to $5,000 with no financial
match required for capacity building efforts such as leadership
development, organizational planning, membership recruitment activities
and community programs. With a total of $50,000 available, the Community
Garden Organization Capacity Building Grant Program will dedicate half of
the resources to upstate projects and half to downstate. Eligible
organizations must manage a community garden on public or private lands,
have at least ten members, and located in one of the 14 eligible cities
with a population of 45,000 people or more. They must also be an existing
community garden organization or multiple gardens organizations working
in partnership as a coalition. The eligible upstate cities are Buffalo,
Rochester, Syracuse, Albany, Schenectady, Utica, Niagara Falls, Troy, and
Binghamton. The eligible downstate cities are New York, Yonkers, New
Rochelle, Mount Vernon, and White Plains.

Applications for the Community Garden Organization Capacity Building
Grant Program are available by contacting the Department at
1-800-544-4501 or by downloading the form from the Department’s website
at http://www.agmkt.state.ny.us/RFPS.html.

Applications will only be accepted between March 4 and May 4, 2009, or
until funds are exhausted.