We Won!

[Ethan Buckner]

To my family, friends, and supporters:

We Won! 

Thanks to your support, Cooperative Energy Futures has successfully won a $5,000 grant to implement our project in the Phillips Neighborhood in South Minneapolis. 

What does this mean? 

With the funds we received from the Brighter Planet Project Fund Grant, we are now able to purchase enough inventory to launch a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual sales team that will provide primarily low-income residents with affordable energy-saving and money-saving efficiency materials in their homes. Beyond the sales element, the team will teach community workshops that will empower families with the skills needed to implement easy and effective energy saving practices in their homes. In essence, we aren't only building green jobs, we are empowering members of the Phillips neighborhood with the opportunity to be owners and entrepreneurs in a community-operated venture. This model will enable both "buyers" and "sellers" in Phillips to become owners of the cooperative. It's a model that's never been tried before, but one that could transform the way we view who can be a producer and who can be a consumer in the energy economy.

I am extraordinarily grateful for the last-minute votes, emails and facebook messages, phone calls and texts that were sent around to help boost us to victory in the grant competition. We won by an extremely close margin- so all of your votes made a HUGE difference!

On Friday, I head back to Vassar College to continue my studies. I'll be a Sophomore this year, and am excited for all that lies ahead. This fall, I'll be co-chairing my school's environmental club (the Vassar Greens), interning on the College Committee on Sustainability, working on national organizational development for Grand Aspirations and Generation Waking Up, and preparing for the Sierra Student Coalition's second delegation to the UN Climate Negotiations this November in Cancun, Mexico.

I look forward to being in touch and working with you in the coming weeks and months ahead.

With Passion,

Ethan

--
Ethan Buckner
Youth Organizer
Sierra Student Coalition -- www.ssc.org
Vassar College Class of 2013
612-718-3847
ethanb...@gmail.com
etbu...@vassar.edu