Black River Action Team (BRAT) Receives $2,500 Through VT Community Foundation's Small and Inspiring Grant Program

When it rains, it pours... and that can cause plenty of problems when it pours over roofs, parking lots, driveways, and sidewalks -- carrying along car waste, litter, fertilizers, pesticides, animal waste, and other pollutants, directly or indirectly to the nearest stream or river. The Black River Action Team has set their sights on helping private homeowners as well as business-owners to manage storm water runoff on their property.

The BRAT recently received $2,500 through the VT Community Foundation's Small and Inspiring grant program. The grant will help the BRAT achieve their mission of fostering stewardship of the Black River by funding storm water runoff education and project implementation. BRAT Director Kelly Stettner is especially excited by the boost this grant offers her organization: "From our recent Storm Water Expo to installing rain barrels, from diverting downspouts to planting rain gardens, this grant is going to go a long way toward helping us reach folks with the message that we're each affected by storm water, and we've also each got the opportunity and responsibility to manage runoff on our own property," says Stettner.

After the Expo in April, attention turns to a neighborhood in Springfield, Pedden Acres, one of many developments in Vermont in need of storm water management. Project partners include Team EJ Prescott for retention basin designs, the Ottauquechee Natural Resources Conservation District, the Town of Springfield, Jan Lambert of Project SWALE, and the residents of Pedden Acres. Also having input, by way of interpreter Jan Lambert, is Michal Kravcik, Slovak hydrologist and environmentalist and winner of the esteemed Goldman Environmental Award in 1999.

Through its Small and Inspiring grants program, the Community Foundation hopes to help foster the spark and hope that keeps Vermonters healthy and happy by finding and supporting projects where a small grant can make a big difference.

"This project has 'legs,'" continues Stettner. "I can see the work we do in Pedden Acres as being transferable and adaptable to many other similar erosion situations around Springfield, the Black River watershed, the state of Vermont, and beyond. This grant is a huge part of making that possible."

The Black River Action Team, a volunteer-led and community-driven grassroots organization, has been working since 2000 to improve and maintain the health of the Black River through hands-on practical projects. "We keep our eye on ways to stimulate and encourage the economic benefits of the river, as well as the functional integrity of the waterway," Stettner states.

To learn more about the BRAT, log on to www.BlackRiverActionTeam.org, contact Kelly Stettner at [email protected] or leave a clear message at BRAT's Google Voice account: (802) 738-0456.

The Vermont Community Foundation is a family of hundreds of funds and foundations established by Vermonters to serve their charitable goals. It provides the advice, investment vehicles, and back-office expertise to make giving easy and effective. The Foundation also provides leadership in giving by responding to community needs, mobilizing and connecting philanthropists to multiply their impact, and by keeping Vermont's nonprofit sector vital with grants and other investments in the community. Visit www.vermontcf.org or call (802) 388-3355 for more information.

(Photo by Kelly Stettner - a severely eroded backyard in Springfield, the 'poster child' of unchecked storm water runoff.)