Forever Maryland, in partnership with the Maryland Environmental Trust and Maryland Department of Transportation, has awarded 31 grants totaling $92,000 to support environmental education, community cleanup, and beautification projects through the Keep Maryland Beautiful program.
The grants were awarded to schools, nonprofit groups, municipalities, and land trusts in 12 counties and Baltimore City. The awards included one Aileen Hughes award, 21 Citizen Stewardship awards, and nine Janice Hollmann Grant awards. The program is administered by Forever Maryland and is the oldest program of the Maryland Environmental Trust, a Department of Natural Resources unit.
“Since its inception, the Keep Maryland Beautiful grants program has awarded grants to engaged citizens and land trusts that are developing innovative solutions to local environmental problems,” said Forever Maryland President Wendy Stringfellow. “I’ve been involved with this rewarding program for the past decade, and have seen its enormous impact. Thank you to the sponsors and the awardees for your contributions to Maryland!”
Many of these grants focus on developing and supporting communities, families, youth, and students who take personal responsibility for the health of their communities, protecting nature in their backyards and seeking ways to help reduce or resolve environmental challenges. Recipients included schools, nonprofit groups, municipalities, and land trusts in 12 counties and Baltimore City.
Maryland Department of Natural Resources Secretary Josh Kurtz said, “The Keep Maryland Beautiful Program builds a strong partnership between our communities and state, in our shared goals of cleaner water and access to green space for all Marylanders. Funding these efforts also increases stewardship in every corner of Maryland.”
Maryland Department of Transportation Secretary Paul J. Wiedefeld added, “Keep Maryland Beautiful grants demonstrate the power of partnership to create cleaner, greener communities for all Marylanders. The Maryland Department of Transportation is proud to join with other state agencies, schools, nonprofits, and individual citizens to protect and enhance our state’s natural beauty and inspire a passion for environmental stewardship in future generations.”
The grants aim to increase capacity, support community programming and innovation, and foster stronger, better-connected land trusts. All grants require a 100 percent match from the land trust of in-kind services and privately raised funds. The grant is given in memory of Janice Hollmann, who exemplified citizen leadership of local land trusts in Maryland.
The awards program is a testament to the power of partnerships in creating cleaner, greener communities across the state of Maryland.
2023 recipients of Keep Maryland Beautiful Grants include:
Anne Arundel County
- Annapolis Maritime Museum & Park
- Scenic Rivers Land Trust Inc.
Baltimore City
- Baltimore Green Space – A Land Trust for Community Managed Open Space Inc.
- Civic Works, Inc
- Environmental Justice Journalism Initiative
- Grow & Eat Inc. aka Harlem Park Community Farm
- Lafayette Square Community Development Corporation
- Living Classrooms Foundation
- Plantation Park Heights Urban Farm
- The Sixth Branch
- The Urban Oasis
Baltimore County
- Gwynn Oak Community Association
- NeighborSpace of Baltimore County Inc.
Calvert County
- American Chestnut Land Trust Inc.
Charles County
- Conservancy for Charles County Inc.
- Gale-Bailey Elementary Green Club
Frederick County
- Catoctin Land Trust
Garrett County
- Crellin Elementary School Parent Teacher Organization Inc.
Harford County
- Harford Land Trust Inc.
- Lower Susquehanna Heritage Greenway
Howard County
- Glenelg Country School
- Patapsco Heritage Greenway Inc.
- The Howard County Conservancy
Montgomery County
- Amula Foundation (Also known as Rise N Shine Foundation Inc.)
- Bethesda Green
- Charles Koiner Center for Urban Farming Inc.
- Montgomery Parks Foundation
St. Mary’s County
- Greenwell FoundationJosh
Talbot County
- Eastern Shore Land Conservancy
Washington County
- Antietam-Concocheague Watershed Alliance