By Tom Schuster, Director, Sierra Club Pennsylvania Chapter; Chair, Huplits Committee
Each year, the Allegheny Group of the Sierra Club administers grant awards made possible by funding from the Huplits Foundation Trust. A committee of Sierra Club members appointed by the Allegheny Group Executive Committee solicits funding proposals for projects that further the mission and goals of the Sierra Club throughout Pennsylvania. Proposals from entities within the Sierra Club, as well as outside charitable organizations that align with our mission, are considered.
This summer, we received a robust set of proposals, with funding requests exceeding our available pool of funds by a significant margin. Last month, after careful deliberation, the Huplits Grant Committee voted to award $55,146 to six applicants. The following are this year’s award winners:
Allegheny Land Trust: $17,250 (Allegheny County)
Description: The Dead Man’s Hollow Expansion Project will permanently conserve 10 acres of Youghiogheny riverfront woodlands in Elizabeth Township, adjacent to ALT’s popular Dead Man’s Hollow Conservation Area (DMH) and along the Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) trail. This effort will ensure seamless public access between DMH, the GAP, and the river, and collectively enhance the natural attributes and recreational potential of these three regional treasures.
Lycoming College: $15,846 (Lycoming County)
Description: This project will expand American eel (Anguilla rostrata) eDNA sampling and aquatic organism passage barrier surveys throughout the Susquehanna River watershed to identify specific barriers to their distribution and further analyze the characteristics of those barriers that do minimize or fully block eel passage.
Pocono Environmental Education Center: $9,500 (Pike County)
Description: This project brings together PEEC and the local Sierra Club chapter to offer a series of year-round public programs that promote watershed health, preserve natural habitats, and inspire community-led environmental stewardship in the Pocono region.
Sierra Club Moshannon Group: $500 (Centre County)
Description: To bring together local environmental groups to discuss missions and projects and potential intersections between groups. The goal is to make new connections, help each other with “how to” questions (e.g., how to get more volunteers, how to use social media), and to learn about the Environmental Rights Amendment from a guest speaker and author on the topic.
Pennsylvania Interfaith Power & Light: $11,050 (Lancaster County)
Description: PA Plants Native! exists to empower communities and congregations to take faithful climate action by planting native trees. We utilize a grassroots, volunteer-powered approach to empower community-led tree planting projects. We remove barriers to sourcing and cost while leaving decision-making and project leadership to the communities we partner with.
Sierra Club Northeastern PA Group: $1,000 (Lackawanna County)
Description: The goal of the Community Cleanups is to bring people of all ages and backgrounds to pick up litter and examine how we can reduce our waste while providing crucial education about litter, plastic, and recycling in a safe and accessible way.
Congratulations to this year’s winners!
We will solicit another round of proposals in the Spring of 2026. Please keep an eye out for the Request for Proposals, and if you know an organization with a worthwhile project, please encourage them to apply. If you are interested in serving on next year’s Huplits Committee and having a say in how this funding is invested, please contact me through our form. We’d love to hear from you!
This blog was included as part of the October 2025 Sylvanian newsletter. Please click here to check out more articles from this edition!