Mini grants awarded to support local partners

girls rolling
Triangle Bikeworks, a grantee based in the Triangle region of North Carolina, provides after-school and summer cycling programs to empower and enrich youth of color.

At the close of 2017, the East Coast Greenway Alliance awarded $5,000 in mini grants to 11 organizations stretching from New England to Florida. The grants support grassroots efforts aimed at increasing the number of people who use the Greenway as a safe, accessible, and fun place to walk, run, and bike, and more. Grantees are undertaking a range of activities from bike repair stations and bike tools to youth programming and restoration work in the wake of Hurricane Irma.

"We are excited to support so many worthwhile partners working in such a range of places, north and south, urban and rural,” says Dennis Markatos-Soriano, executive director. “The work that these organizations do at the hyper-local level to build support and engagement for trails is crucial to the success and growth of the Greenway. We’re excited to follow their projects over the coming year.”

"FreeWalkers is dedicated to getting everyone walking for its many benefits," says Paul Kiczek, founder and president of the New Jersey-based organization, which is a longtime partner of the East Coast Greenway Alliance and a 2017 grantee. "Our traditional walks are often long and appeal to adults. For the last two years we have held a special event, Stroll & Roll, geared to families walking together. We'll use this grant to help create more Stroll & Roll events in various communities to promote the concept of the Greenway and how even our small walk is part of a much bigger 3,000-mile vision."

2017 Mini Grant Recipients

New England

City of Peabody, “Peabody Independence Greenway Bike Repair Stations

Seacoast Area Bicycle Routes, “NH Seacoast Greenway Outreach Package”

freewalkers group
A group of FreeWalkers gather for an evening walk along the Schuylkill River following an East Coast River Relay gala celebration at Fairmount Waterworks in downtown Philadelphia.

Tri-State (Connecticut, New York, New Jersey)

FreeWalkers, “Stroll & Roll Family Walks”

Simsbury Free Bike Shop, “Tool and equipment upgrade” (in memory of Ann Marie Potter)

Mid-Atlantic (Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Washington D.C.)

Delaware Greenways Inc., “Create story map of East Coast Greenway in Delaware”

Delaware River City Corporation, “Greenway Outreach 2018”

Virginia & North Carolina

Roanoke River Rails-to-Trails, “Tobacco Heritage Trail, Trail Coordinator Position & Maintenance”

Triangle Bikeworks, “Spoke’n Revolutions”

South Carolina & Georgia

Charleston Moves, “People First on the West Ashley Greenway”

Florida

Friends of A1A Scenic & Historic Coastal Byway, “Building Community Engagement for Trails Promotions”

Friends of Florida State Parks, “Florida Keys State Parks Hurricane Irma Restoration”

 

Read more of our January 2018 On the Greenway newsletter

Together, let's grow the Greenway

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