By Carl J. Kanaski, Member, Lancaster Group
The Sierra Club Lancaster Group, as part of its Earth Day (April 22) activities, announced the names of 15 more Lancaster County 501(c)(3)organizations that have been awarded its "Green Project" Grants. Each of the organizations, in submitted proposals, revealed a need for support of a venture that promotes sustainability, expands environmental awareness, and improves green infrastructure.
With this latest round of awards, each ranging up to $500, a total of 110 Lancaster County organizations have received Green Grants from the Lancaster Group over the past 10 years.
Those awarded 2025 grants, along with their projects, include:
- Church of the Apostles UCC, preparing for its Friday, May 16, "Science in the Park" program that brings inner-city kids to the church's five-acre Rader Park.
- Conservation Foundation of Lancaster County, supporting its environmental literacy project, which includes a professional development conference on elements of watershed biodiversity that can be shared with students in the classroom.
- Franklin & Marshall College, designing and painting F&M's compost bin in Buchanan Park to make it more attractive and then using it as a model to redesign other F&M-Lancaster Compost Co-Op bins in Lancaster City.
- Friends of the Railroad Museum, constructing a new native plant garden with signage at the northeast side of the museum in Strasburg.
- Greystone Manor Therapeutic Riding Center, purchasing native and pollinator plants to be placed in front of and alongside its barn with the goal of restoring local ecosystems and enhancing water quality.
- Historic Poole Forge, stabilizing embankments, removing invasive vines in rain gardens, restocking plants lost to drought, and replacing a rotted fence in the pollinator garden.
- Homefields Care Farm, building a biochar retort furnace that will impound carbon and make biologically active and improved soil modifications throughout its acreage.
- Immerse International, creating a mini-meadow on a small portion of its campus as a continuation of a plan to add more native plants and trees throughout its property.
- Let's Go 1-2-3, in partnership with Northeast Neighbors/Northeast Green and Lancaster Cemetery, preparing for its fall community cleanup at the 20-acre Lancaster Cemetery that will bolster and supplement past efforts to clear out, replant, and maintain the cemetery's native gardens, shrubs, and trees.
- Let's Go 1-2-3, second proposal, providing support for the Hazel Jackson Day of Action/Nature Fest from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, September 27, at Lancaster's Hazel Jackson Middle School in southeast Lancaster.
- Peace United Church of Christ, buying plants for its community garden that offers members and neighbors fresh produce and generates compost material for future use.
- Rivertownes, PA USA, installing bat houses for its insect-eating occupants at four locations in Marietta--one at a maintenance facility and the others at sites still to be determined.
- St. Thomas Episcopal Church, Lancaster, making its existing 50-year-old retention basin more efficient and effective through the use of native plants and grasses as an alternative to the existing monoculture.
- Thomas Wharton Elementary School PTO, developing further its Wonder (edible) Garden that offers students an outdoor classroom where, through hands-on experiences, they acquire expertise in gardening, sustainability and other eco-environmental practices.
- West Lancaster Jewels Neighborhood Committee, acquiring gardening supplies for student volunteers recruited to work in its community garden.
Awarded once a year, the grants are primarily supported with funds generated by the Group's Polar Bear 5K Trail Run/Hike and, more recently, with money donated to the Group by its participation in the ExtraGive. Charitable, educational or business organizations in Lancaster County that demonstrate a commitment to the Sierra Club's mission of "exploring, enjoying, and protecting the planet" are eligible to apply for a grant of $500 or less.
Deadline to make application for the next cycle of awards is March 31, 2026; recipients will be announced on Earth Day. For complete details about the Green Project Grant Program, visit lancastersierraclub.org/grant-program/, call (717) 475-0586, or email jimsmeenan@gmail.com.
This blog was included as part of the May 2025 Sylvanian newsletter. Please click here to check out more articles from this edition!