Grants Awarded

The Environmental Fund was established in 1994 using the settlement money from a legal dispute involving a phenol spill that tainted drinking water in the Mississippi River. The original gift of $6 million was invested and has grown to $10 million. The endowed fund’s goal is to—year after year—encourage ecological, economic, and cultural vitality, resilience, and sustainability through environmentally focused policies, programs, and projects. In 2009, the Environmental Fund made grants to the following organizations:

Bayou St. John Conservation Alliance

To install four water level and salinity monitoring stations in Bayou St. John.

Charitable Film Network

To carry out an environmental justice-themed video competition among area high school students living in at-risk communities.

Friends of Laffite Corridor

To design and implement a sustainable water design program for the Lafitte Corridor.

Lead Lab

To remediate the outdoor play areas of 10 day care centers in Orleans Parish and educate the general public about the hazards of lead poisoning, as well as the ubiquity of contaminated soil in New Orleans.

Longue Vue House and Gardens

To develop seminars and other education materials on the benefits of native plant life.

Lower Ninth Ward Center for Sustainable Engagement and Development

To commission an implementation plan for the sustainable, resilient restoration of the Lower Ninth Ward.

Lower Ninth Ward Urban Farming Coalition

To expand student capacity at the Urban Micro-Farm administered and run by the School at Blair Grocery.

New Orleans Food and Farm Network

To plan and implement urban vegetable gardens through community outreach, garden site planning/development, and horticultural training.

New Orleans Institute for Resilience in Education

To convene a leadership meeting to maximize long-term grant outcomes and further organizational capacity among GNOF Environment Fund grantees.

Pontilly Disaster Collaborative

To design a landscape remediation project for the Dwyer Canal.

Teaching Responsible Earth Education

To improve the scientific and environmental education of high school students in the Orleans Parish Public School system.

The Urban Conservancy + Stay Local!

To organize a one-day seminar for local small business owners to educate them on business practices that will enable them to prepare for and recover from hurricanes and other emergencies with greater rapidity.

Tulane Environmental Law Clinic

To educate local citizens and grassroots activists about their rights and the responsibilities of government and industry regarding environmental law.

United Houma Nation

To assemble and distribute relevant climate, architectural and logistical information that will impact the future of the Houma Nation by making it more resilient.