Aquidneck Land Trust Merritt Neighborhood Fund Grants Help Neighborhood Preservation Efforts 

Grant applications are now available for Aquidneck Island organizations and neighborhood groups working to preserve a special little open space parcel or improve a neighborhood park. ALT recently distributed applications to 75 local organizations and issued a news release to local news media in hopes of making the opportunity available to others as well.

 The Aquidneck Land Trust (ALT) Merritt Neighborhood Fund provides grants ranging from $100 to $2,500 to Aquidneck Island’s neighborhood and community groups working to strengthen their community’s identity and natural character and to model the ethic of land conservation and stewardship through community volunteerism. Grant applications may be obtained by contacting the ALT at 401-849-2799. The deadline for proposals, originally June 15, has been extended to June 25, 2007.

Since the Merritt Neighborhood Fund was established in 1999, the ALT has awarded grants totaling $16,326 to 15 local groups in Portsmouth, Middletown, and Newport to revitalize parks, repair and purchase playground equipment and improve aesthetic value through landscaping. Past recipients include the Island Park Neighborhood Crime Watch Committee, Friends of Anne Hutchinson, the Middletown Tree Association, Albro Woods, Cranston Calvert Elementary School PTO, Sullivan School Family Center, Friends of Morton Park and Newport Little League.

The Aquidneck Land Trust established the Merritt Neighborhood Fund to honor the late Peter M. Merritt, the organization’s visionary president emeritus, for his decade of leadership. Merritt had a vision to execute the mission of the ALT on a smaller scale to benefit individual neighborhoods across Aquidneck Island. “The work of neighborhood groups and associations to reclaim or improve small parcels of land for community good is part of the effort to create a sustainable future for Aquidneck Island,” said ALT Executive Director Ted Clement. “Examples of valuable projects that can be enacted on a neighborhood level include community gardens, transformation of neglected properties for community recreation, playground improvement, and pocket parks,” Clement said.

This email update has been sent to the entire Aquidneck Land Trust email list. Please let us know if you do not wish to receive these email updates by replying to this message. If you have any questions or comments, please call 401/849-2799 x19 or email csabato@ailt.org.