FruitGuys Community Fund reveal grant cycle for 2015

Eight grants given in Wisconsin, Illinois, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and California in 2014

By Diego Flammini, Farms.com

The application process to receive grants from The FruitGuys Community Fund is now underway. Applications are due by midnight PST on Monday, February 16, 2015 and projects must be completed by December 1, 2015.

The FruitGuys Community Fund, a fiscally sponsored project of Community Initiatives, was created in 2012. By April 2015, grants of up to $5,000 will be awarded to farms and agricultural non-profits impacting the environment, economy, and community health.

"We are committed to helping small farms become more sustainable and are confident that we will identify well deserving farms, farmers and projects,” said Mittelstaedt. “We firmly believe that supporting small farms bolsters communities in major ways."

More than 60 applicants submitted their names in 2014 after only 15 applicants came forward in 2013. Those who received grants in 2014 included Gabriel Farm from Sebastopol, California who will use their grant to build and install bat boxes and a bat belfry to improve natural pest control.

Bountiful Hope Farms out of Monroe, Wisconsin will use theirs to transition from hand watering to a drip irrigation system, build raised plant beds and a hoop house for their farm that donates all of their harvest to local food pantries.