Apr 7, 2014
PRESS RELEASE
Talking Talons Youth Leadership, Inc. Offering Community Fund Grants
Local Non-Profits Asked For Interest
Tijeras, New Mexico (February 12, 2014) –The Board of Directors of Talking Talons Youth Leadership, Inc., a Tijeras, NM youth-environmental leadership organization, has announced another round of funding available to local non-profits through their Talking Talons Community Fund Grants. The Community Fund was established to assist the mission and program delivery of non-profit organizations within Central New Mexico (Bernalillo, Sandoval, Santa Fe and Torrance Counties). Grants will be awarded to non-profit organizations whose mission is to provide youth-oriented environmental education, environmental leadership training, environmental science and/or animal rehabilitation projects and education.
“The Talking Talons Board is committed to reinvesting in the communities that support us. In the recent past, the Thrift Store has supported only our ongoing Program activities in local schools and our Collaborative Forest Restoration project, we are now financially able to offer grants to other small non-profits,” Board Director Genevieve Barrett stated.
Talking Talons Community Fund will open its next funding cycle with a request for Letters of Interest starting March 1, 2014. Two types of grants will be awarded based upon the responses that are received: ‘flash grants’ of up to $200 for immediately actionable projects, and ‘implementation grants’ of up to $2,000 to support longer term programs. Projects that maximize building youth connections to our environment, and maximize hands-on outdoor engagement opportunities, involve building environmental stewardship skills in creative ways and support Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math (STEAM) education efforts will be considered for awards. All projects need to have quantifiable outcomes.
“We had a successful outcome with our first round of grant making in the fall of 2013. We awarded monies to Root 66 Community Gardens for their classroom garden at Roosevelt Middle School and to East Mountain High School Foundation for a school-wide recycling project, culminating in a costume parade,” Ms. Barrett stated. “We screen all grant submittals through our Community Fund Advisory Board that is made up of Directors of the Talking Talons Board, Talking Talons staff directors and members of the community.”
Additional information regarding Community Fund grant details, eligibility and application instructions will be available starting February 24, 2014 in our thrift store and through the Talking Talons web site talkingtalons.com/communityfund.html.
Talking Talons Youth Leadership was founded in the fall of 1988 within Albuquerque Public Schools by Wendy Crouch Aeschliman, an educator and a Registered Nurse. Talking Talons delivers high-quality, independently tested curriculum to educate Central New Mexico youth promoting environmental literacy, stewardship and leadership. Talking Talons’ programs are offered in school classrooms, community workshops and through the organization’s Biological Field Station located in the Cibola National Forest. Current funding for Talking Talons is from federal, state, corporate and private sources.
Talking Talons’ mission is “To elevate youth and community to become effective advocates and ethical stewards of themselves, wildlife and the environment.”
The Talking Talons Thrift Store is located at 12159 N. Highway 14 in Cedar Crest and is open Monday through Saturday from 10AM to 5PM and Sunday from 10AM until 3PM. Receipts are available for your tax deductible donations.