Litter-Free Rhode Island Cleanup and Beautification Microgrants The 2024 Litter-Free Rhode Island Cleanup/Beautification Microgrant initiative aims to highlight the Litter-Free Rhode Island campaign and the value of the environment and to recognize the importance of people improving the quality of life in their communities. Environmental stewardship is an important component of a healthy business climate. Improving the appearance of our neighborhoods and our scenic and recreational areas improves our quality of life and our business climate as well. Participating groups may use the grant awards to conduct litter pick-ups or other volunteer clean-ups and beautification projects. Grant Award Amounts Capitalized by a $100,000 line item proposed by Governor McKee and included in the enacted fiscal year 2024 budget, the program grew out of the Governor’s and First Lady’s Litter-Free Rhode Island initiative, which launched in 2022. This round is currently closed. Stay tuned for announcements of a new round of grant requests soon. General Requirements The grants may be used for local volunteer cleanups/beautification projects and must include an educational component. All applications need to demonstrate how the event will promote education of the Litter-Free Rhode Island campaign and strongly encourage participants to sign the Litter-Free Pledge. Evaluation Criteria: Relevancy to local environmental/community interests. Increased learning opportunities for the community. Long-term environmental/beautification impact. Demonstrated need. Expenses Not Funded: Personnel expenses (i.e., salary, overtime, professional landscapers, etc). Fuel or travel costs related to purchasing items for the event/project. Expenses incurred prior to the grant award date. Direct or Indirect lobbying or political activities. Applications Applicants do not need to apply for the full grant maximum, and there is no requirement to match. In an effort to spread the grants throughout the state, RIDEM strongly encourages potential applicants to partner with other organizations within their community. All applications need to demonstrate how the event will promote the education of the Litter-Free Rhode Island campaign and strongly encourage participants to sign the Litter-Free Pledge. Applications that do not meet the criteria will be rejected. Please consider the environment when purchasing any material. Try to avoid single-use plastics, recycle any packaging materials, and encourage guests to “carry-in carry-out.” Following the completion of the event, RIDEM requires the submittal of photographs of the event, the number of participants, the amount of material collected, and proof that the funding was successfully spent as proposed. Frequently Asked Questions Can schools apply? Schools, municipal organizations (for example, town department of public works, parks and recreation, conservation commission), and non-profit organizations are all eligible to apply. In order to be considered you must provide your organization’s federal ID number, and non-profits must provide evidence of their non-profit status. What type of expenses are funded? Examples of what the grant funding can be used for, equipment (gloves, pickers), marketing (t-shirts, printing, etc.), food and/or water for the volunteers and debris removal (dumpster, etc.) Do we have to be a 501c3 non-profit to be considered? We are not specifying that non-profits be a 501c3 because we recognize that there are community-based non-profit organizations that have other federally recognized non-profit designations. As long as you can provide proof that your organization is a federally recognized non-profit organization your application will be considered. Inadvertently my co-worker and I both submitted applications for our organization. Can you please consider both? No. We will only consider one application per organization. If we receive multiple applications for a single organization we will only consider the first application that arrives. Before you submit an application be sure to coordinate with other members of you organization. What are the criteria that are used to consider which applicants will receive a grant? The evaluation criteria includes relevancy to local environmental/community interests, increased learning opportunities for the community, long term environmental/beautification impact, and demonstrated need. Is the deadline a firm deadline? Applications must be submitted via the online application at least 30 days before the grant supported project is set to occur. Who reviews the applications and determines which applicants will receive a grant? The review committee consists of representatives from RIDEM and the Office of the Governor. Additional Questions? If you have any questions, please feel free to contact RIDEM’s Director’s Office, Suzanne.Amerault@dem.ri.gov.