MIDDLEBURY – The Vermont Community Foundation announced today that it has awarded another $670,500 in grants to help individuals, businesses, farms, and downtowns recover from the devastating flooding across the state earlier this month.
The new round of grants from the Foundation’s Vermont’s Flood Response & Recovery Fund 2023 follows $330,600 in grants awarded last week. The total amount awarded from the fund now exceeds $1 million.
The Vermont Flood Response & Recovery Fund 2023 was created immediately after torrential rains turned large parts of the state into a mud-drenched disaster zone. In just over two weeks, donations large and small have poured in from individuals, companies, Vermont music luminaries, and children running lemonade stands and “hopebox” derbies. Money from the fund has been awarded to dozens of nonprofit organizations, with more to come in future grant awards from the fund.
Local organizations receiving grants included Center for an Agricultural Economy (CAE) awarded $15,000 to support food sovereignty efforts in Hardwick and the Northeast Kingdom as part of storm and flood relief. CAE works in Hardwick and the surrounding area to support local farmers and provide access to high-quality food.
Also, Greensboro Association awarded $10,000 for storm and flood relief efforts. The association develops and supports village initiatives and organizations that enhance the community. It also protects Caspian Lake and its surrounding environment and Wolcott Fire Department awarded $5,000 for storm and flood relief efforts. The Wolcott Fire Department is a nearly 50-year-old volunteer fire department that serves the 40-square-mile area and 1,670 people living in and around Wolcott.
The fund has raised $4.4 million in gifts and commitments since it was announced on July 11. That total includes $2.8 million in gifts and $1.6 million in pledges.
The latest grants will support nonprofits that are helping residents of flooded mobile home parks and assisting towns as they rent dumpsters to haul away immense piles of flood-related trash and debris. The money will cover emergency home repairs and transitional housing; and help farmers who lost an entire season of corn, berries, cut flowers, and other products to a wave of water and mud.
Funding will help businesses whose spaces and inventory were destroyed. It will also support nonprofit organizations across the state that are working to assist vulnerable populations affected by the floods, including people with mental health needs, people with low incomes, and older Vermonters who rely on Meals on Wheels and other services.
