People & Business
Cross-Sector Partnership Launches Sustainability Initiative, Partners for Green Places
Partners for Green Places (PGP), a collaborative
movement and grant program designed to inspire organizations and nonprofits to
implement sustainable measures, launched a community-wide initiative towards a
greener future on Monday, October 14. With a theme of conservation and
environmental stewardship, organizations, businesses, and the community alike
celebrated sustainability and Sarasota County’s largest solar installation at
Girls, Inc. of Sarasota County.
“No single champion is going to change the climate on climate change,” says
Teri Hansen, President | CEO of Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation.
“It’s going to take all of us to expand dialogue and do the work necessary to
make our future greener. Our local government and nonprofits are the ones
leading the way in our community.”
Designed to engage, connect, and forge a commitment toward energy efficiency
and sustainability, Partners for Green Places aims to use energy assessments
coupled with energy- and water-efficiency projects to reduce operational costs
for human services and environmental nonprofits. The launch event also
illuminated the broader impact that the Partners for Green Places movement
brings to the community as well as its vision for a greener future.
Partners for Green Places was founded through a cross-sector partnership
including Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation, Gulf Coast Community
Foundation, the City of Sarasota, Community Foundation of Sarasota County,
DreamLarge, University of Florida IFAS and Sarasota County, and William G. and
Marie Selby Foundation. The founding partners are inviting other organizations
to get involved.
“This initiative starts by showing nonprofits and their donors that not only is
it possible to invest in sustainability, but those investments can also free up
more funding to support their core missions,” says Mark Pritchett, President |
CEO of Gulf Coast Community Foundation. “Beyond that, we can go even bigger and
catalyze a movement that makes sustainability and conservation our ‘way of
work’ here on the Gulf Coast.”
$375,000 in funding was secured through the partnering foundations and a
matching grant from the Funders’ Network for Smart Growth and Livable
Communities and the Urban Sustainability Directors Network. These funds will
provide nonprofits with “energy roadmaps” that outline cost-saving
opportunities through investment in efficiency and renewable energy upgrades
and assist them with implementing priority projects at their facilities.
Additionally, an anonymous donor with the Community Foundation of Sarasota
County has granted $200,000 to fund a pilot solar investment program. Nonprofit
organizations will be able to apply for low-interest funding to finance
renewable energy investments and capital to adopt on-site solar power. As the
low-interest funding is paid back, funds will be used for community-wide
sustainability education projects.
“While on-site solar energy has been proven to be a more affordable, long-term
solution, many local nonprofits are often constrained by a lack of available
funds to explore these opportunities,” says Roxie Jerde, President and CEO of
the Community Foundation of Sarasota County. “We are proud to support
organizations and programs like Partners for Green Places, who tirelessly work
to make these opportunities accessible to nonprofits throughout our community.”
There are currently three ways to get involved in the Partners for Green Places
movement. Organizations, both nonprofit and for-profit, can join an alliance of
partners and become an official Partner for Green Places. Businesses and
nonprofits that have already adopted sustainable measures are invited to share
their stories and be featured. And businesses and nonprofits interested in
adopting sustainable measures can apply to get an energy audit from a PGP
implementation partner. All of these can be done through www.PartnersforGreenPlaces.org.
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