Mini-Grant Recipients

Photo provided.

An individual, tapping into a global project, can help a neighborhood. The organization Little Free Library coordinates an international network of citizen-made cabinets where anyone can take or leave books, improving equitable access to books while reducing the purchasing and disposal of books. Ithaca hosts a growing number of these Little Free Libraries (LFLs). In October 2021, Ithaca resident Mackenzie Torelli received a Neighborhood Mini-Grant from Sustainable Finger Lakes for materials to build five LFLs for the Northeast Ithaca neighborhood in collaboration with local students and families, for sites frequented by children.

Photo provided.

The LFLs were created in summer 2022, from new materials used efficiently to minimize waste. As of early October, they had been installed in Tareyton Park and Salem Park in the Town of Ithaca, with installations planned for Northeast Elementary School and two parks in the Village of Lansing. Book exchanges began within 24 hours of installation. The Northeast Elementary fifth graders planned a book drive to stock them, and Torelli plans to recruit local families for assistance in monitoring their usage. These new LFLs, in combination with those already in the neighborhood, will give all Northeast Ithaca residents access to free books within walking distance of their homes.

The Neighborhood Mini-Grant Program provides seed money to diverse initiatives building environmental stewardship, economic equity, and social justice in Tompkins County. The program is sponsored by Craig Riecke, Beck Equipment, and the Park Foundation. Please donate today and help us support more citizen-driven projects increasing the resilience and well-being of our communities.

The next Neighborhood Mini-Grant application deadline is April 1, 2023. Email sasha@sustainablefingerlakes.org to request an application.

Thousands of people attend the book sales hosted by the Friends of the Tompkins County Public Library every May and October, and its facility in Ithaca’s West End is within bicycling distance of many residents. But visitors have long had to insecurely chain their bikes to nearby fences, signposts, or trees. In March 2016, Sustainable Tompkins awarded the organization a Neighborhood Mini-Grant for buying bike racks.

Six racks were installed over the summer, largely by volunteers. They were constantly full during the October sale, and used in all seasons by the volunteers planning the sales and donors dropping off items to sell. Facilitating fossil-fuel-free transportation and exercise, making bicyclists feel welcome at the sales — which support literacy programs along with the local and regional libraries —  and protecting the trees whose bark had been regularly damaged by bike chains, they will continue to bring benefits near and far.

The Neighborhood Mini-Grant Program provides seed money to diverse initiatives to build environmental, economic, and social resilience and well-being in Tompkins County. In turn, we need your support! Please donate today and help us support more wonderful citizen-driven projects to improve life in our community.