Six local organizations — from municipalities to non-profit groups to student groups — recently received more than $15,000 in grant funding in order to undertake projects that will benefit the Cazenovia community. The projects were selected as awardees of the local Common Grounds Challenge Grant program, which is in its pilot year.

“We were very pleased with the first-year turnout of applications for the program,” said Bob Hood, a member of the grant program steering committee. “We had a wide range of applications, very diversified. It ranged from everything from reading and healthy food to defibrillators and veterans programs.”

The Common Grounds Challenge Grant was created last summer by a group of interested/concerned local citizens as a way to inspire creative ideas to address unmet needs in the Cazenovia community, to provide financial support to help implement those ideas and to encourage collaboration with members of the community with the skills necessary to support the project. The maximum grant award offered was $20,000, with all grants requiring a 50 percent match. The funding was raised completely by anonymous donors.

The Cazenovia Area Community Development Association helped to facilitate the process. The steering committee members included

Applications were accepted between Sept. 1 and Nov. 1, 2014, and eligible applicants included non-profit organizations, educators, students, heath care providers, religious organizations, municipalities and concerned citizens.

The program received 14 total applications, of which six received grants; and the program awarded a total of $15,900 in funding, said Lauren Lines, executive director of CACDA.

“The projects we funded were all very well-developed ideas, and what we liked is they were ready to go,” Lines said. “We are also hoping that this funding helps these projects to secure additional funds as well — in some cases, they might find another organization willing to match funding once you’ve already received a grant.”

The awarded projects were chosen by an eight-member steering committee based on a selection model developed by the CNY Community Foundation, Hood said.

“The eight members of our committee each reviewed every applications. We had several categories that helped us to evaluate them — it took the subjectivity way out of it and looked at how well it was developed, if the idea was sustainable and if they collaborated with others in community,” he said.

The steering committee members include: Hood, Larry Tully, Bonnie Slocum, Betsy Kennedy, Stan Mackowiak, Cindy Sutton, Kurt Wheeler and Kate Sullivan.

The six funding selectees, listed form lowest to highest grant award, were:

1. Cazenovia Middle School Earth Club — $400 for a project to help the Earth by planting more trees in the village. The funding will go to the Village Tree Commission, which will work with the Earth Club students and help them learn about, purchase and plant a variety of trees in the community. “We loved the Earth Club group,” Hood said. “We were thrilled to get such young kids [as applicants] and hope next year we get more young kids applying.”

2. Cazenovia Public Library — $600 to help implement a local Little Free Library program. The program would create two satellite book donation/collection locations in community at which people may take a book and in return donate a book. The Little Free Library is a national program to promote literacy and the love of reading by building free book exchanges.

3. Cazenovia Community Preschool — $2,000 for the “Expanding diversity through technology” project that will expand the horizons for children in community by exposing them to other cultures through the use of technology, such as Skype. The CCH is working together ith Cazenovia College on the project.

4. Cazenovia Preservation Foundation — $2,400 for “Cazenovia Local History: A Discovery of Place,” a program that will fund curriculum for hands-on projects and field trips for fourth grade students to encourage them to become connected to community history.

5. Cazenovia Garden Club — $4,000 for a village beautification project. The club will use the funds to help replace some of the “deteriorating infrastructure” they place throughout the village, such as planters, baskets, wreaths and other decorations.

6. Town of Cazenovia — $6,500 for the creation of a micro-hydroelectric project in the town. The grant will help fund installation of hydro turbine that will be used to generate electricity to offset the town’s current electricity bill. It will also be used as a demonstration project where citizens, students, elected officials, etc., can visit to see the technology and become educated on micro-hydro energy.

The funded projects will be designed and operating throughout the year, during which time the grant committee plans to follow-up on their progress, see what works and what does not and see how ideas can be improved upon if necessary, Hood said.

“We’re hoping it creates a buzz that continues throughout the year … that it sparks an even wider interest in the community,” he said.

The program steering committee is already planning to offer more grants at the end of this year to be given in 2016, Lines said.

“What we emphasized this year especially was collaboration — now is the time, if you have an idea, to reach out to other organizations that might want to be involved and assist,” Lines said. “We really look favorably on projects that involve more than one organization and have built partnerships in the community, particularly for student organizations or individuals.”

For more information on the Common Grounds Challenge Grant program, contact any of the steering committee members or email [email protected].

Jason Emerson is editor of the Cazenovia Republican. He can be reached at [email protected].