Grantees

The Big Buddy fitness initiative program willhelp foster positive attitudes toward health and fitness and encourage healthy habits and decisions.

In the middle of Morrisville sits a small, but mighty school that boasts fields with majestic views and quiet serenity. Throughout the seasons, you'll find students playing soccer, lacrosse, cross country skiing, and snowshoeing. Athletics is a vital part of the school's mission. Currently, we only have used Winter equipment for our 6th-8th graders. We'd like to see students start earlier in our Winter programs by the 3rd. grade. We are providing cross country ski equipment (skis,bindings,shoes,and poles) and snowshoes. It's so vital for children to get outside and be healthy all year long!

The Children’s Room is a free playspace for families and caretakers with small children, based at Brookside Primary School in Waterbury and open to all families in Central Vermont and beyond. Now celebrating its 40th year, The Children’s Room has long been a mainstay of the Central Vermont community. As we crest this milestone, it is time to update our playspace and programming. Our indoor play structure and dramatic play area have been in use for many years, and we are seeking new equipment to replace these outdated pieces. Newer equipment will provide greater safety, meet higher health standards in materials, and provide children with more options for dynamic, engaging play. Parents and caretakers will also appreciate improved and safer equipment, increasing their comfort and engagement in play with their children.

Camp DREAM operates during the summer in Fletcher, VT. We provide youth ages 8-18 with an opportunity to experience summer camp at no cost to them. A new program we will debut in summer 2018 is our Teen Trail Crew. This team will consist of a small group of juniors and seniors who will be paid over the summer to clear trails, build small structures, and help maintain the property (including working in our organic garden), all while building skills and teamwork. Reliable hand tools will give new opportunities and abilities to our Trail Crew as they work to improve Camp DREAM for the benefit of themselves, the property, and current and future campers.

We are requesting grant funding to support the grand reopening of our newly renovated pantry, which serves children and families in our community. Thanks to the generosity of a local donor and the hard work of volunteers, we were able to complete major upgrades—including new flooring, freshly painted walls, and a custom-built desk donated by a local craftsman. To complete this transformation, we are seeking funding for essential equipment: new shelving units and 2 utility carts. The shelving will allow us to better organize and store food, making items more accessible for families, while the carts will help us safely and efficiently transport goods to and from the pantry space. Additionally, we have expanded our available storage by reconfiguring the layout, allowing us to introduce a new dietary specialty section. This area is dedicated to meeting the unique needs of families with specific dietary restrictions—such as gluten-free items—as well as cultural preferences. This equipment will help us provide a more inclusive, dignified, and efficient service to families who rely on us for support.

The Pond Brook Project is requesting grant funds in order to build our science station for students to get hands-on experience with science. Pond Brook is an outdoor experiential program and travels throughout Addison County to explore the ecology of our immediate environment. Students are aged 12-15, and spend each day outside in nature as a core part of the curriculum. Though we are mobile, tools and equipment will help students to document and explore what they find. This grant would benefit students directly by allowing them to have access to science equipment, and therefore a space to conduct experiments, inspect specimens, inspire their curiosity, and encourage them to engage more deeply with the world around them. Willowell will purchase a rolling lab table, 2 binocular compound microscopes, 15 hand held magnifiers and a set of propylene beakers.

The Teen Center offers space for local youth to build community with free events, summer camps, and after school drop-in, providing free food to foster an inclusive environment. While many youths gravitate toward indoor activities such as art and video games, they have requested a Gaga Ball Pit. Gaga Ball is a fast-paced dodgeball variation where players strike others below the knee with a ball to get one another “out” and players must keep the ball inside the pit. The Gaga Pit would encourage outdoor play, enhancing teens' health, well-being, conflict resolution skills, and social connections. It would also be accessible for all Middlebury residents to enjoy competitive outdoor fun.

The Waitsfield Children’s Center provides a play based curriculum that is developmentally stimulating, and provide endless hands-on learning opportunities. We are a non-profit licensed center based childcare program, providing daily care for children age’s birth through preschool. Regularly incorporate nature, art, music, movement, science, early math, pre-reading, and pre-writing skills into our play based activities. We are creating a mud kitchen on our playground, incorporating it to our new gardens, providing an opportunity for children to develop their fine motor skills outside, in an area that is often focused on gross motor skills.