GBTU Awarded 2 Grants
Article written on 2020-12-15 by: Adrian Meseberg
Earlier this year GBTU created an Alternative Fundraising Committee. The original purpose of the group was to simply identify additional ways to raise revenue. It was the feeling of our leadership that we could have an even bigger community impact with additional funding in conjunction with our Annual Conservation Banquet. The committee members are Kim McCarthy, Carla Zimmerman, Jose Diaz and Adrian Meseberg.
A month or so later the Covid-19 pandemic put a pause on life as we all knew it. It created an increased importance on the committee efforts. One of the first things the committee looked into was grant-writing. Kim has taken the most active roll in this area.
Thanks to Kim’s work (and grant-writing skills) GBTU has been received 2 grants. They are described below.
Cellcom Green Grant
According to the Cellcom Green gifts website…
“Through Green Gifts, Cellcom donates proceeds from its cell phone recycling program to local organizations, programs and projects that are dedicated to or support environmental sustainability. The program was launched to protect the environment and support conservation in Northeast Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Green Gifts are awarded on an annual basis and $520,413 has been awarded to date.”
“Customers can bring in their old, unwanted or broken phones to be reused and recycled. Cellcom sends the phones to recyclers who in return send money to Cellcom for the materials that were saved from the phones. Consumers can contribute to the program by donating their old cell phones for recycling at any Cellcom retail location.“
Cellcom generously granted GBTU $1000 to go towards our efforts to revamp our Trout Educational Trail in the Brown County Reforestation Camp (across from the NEW Zoo). We sincerely thank Cellcom. For more information on the program including 2020 recipients CLICK HERE.
WI DNR Angler R3 Grant
The goal of the Wisconsin DNR’s R3 grant program is Recruitment, Retention, Reactivation of anglers. More specifically the intention, according to their website is to…
- Grow the numbers of anglers in Wisconsin
- Expand angling participation among adults, particularly from non-traditional participants.
They go on to say…
“To achieve these goals, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) will award cost-sharing grants to eligible partners to implement activities that will ensure the education and development of safe and ethical adult anglers. The WDNR understands that it is necessary to work with partners to find solutions that will ensure future generations of anglers have the knowledge, skills, and abilities to become informed, competent, safe, and ethical anglers. By developing a private-public partnership grant program, the WDNR is acting on the idea that only long-term mentorship or instruction by a committed angler with good teaching and communication skills can properly educate, train, and develop a new angler.“
“The Angler R3 Grant Program is an evolution of the WDNR’s Angler Education program. The critical difference between the Angler R3 Grant Program and past efforts is the requirement that the grant recipient include a means to evaluate their project. Grant recipients are required to collect WDNR Customer Identification Numbers from their program participants. Because those numbers are tied to the WDNR’s license system, the WDNR will be able to track and evaluate the long-term license-buying habits of participants, thereby evaluating the success of this grant program. Programming will focus on education, training and development of Wisconsin’s anglers, particularly adult women, families, and people from diverse communities. Recruitment of new anglers, retention of active anglers, and reactivation of lapsed anglers (collectively known as Angler R3) are important to future conservation funding and program relevancy.“
GBTU has the potential to receive $7530, with us expected to contribute $2510, to our Veteran’s Service Program. The grant is good through June 2022. This particular grant is “refund-style.” This means we spend up-front and submit the spending to the granter for reimbursement (if approved). Because of Covid-19, for the time being, “in-person” activities are not eligible.
More information on the WI DNR’s Angler R3 program can be FOUND HERE.
A huge thanks goes out to our Alternative Fundraising, especially Kim McCarthy, for the hard work, research and effort in securing these funds !