The Vermont Community Foundation (VCF) is pleased to announce its Spark Connecting Community grant program has awarded $139,406 to support 31 organizations across Vermont. Recipients, including schools, nonprofits, and community groups, will host local projects that connect people to place and strengthen community bonds through activities including art, youth programming, gardening, and food.

“The beauty of this grant program is the variety of projects we see across the state, all with the same purpose: bringing people together,” says Holly Morehouse, vice president of Community Impact at the Vermont Community Foundation. “From free summer art classes and a music Porchfest to shared harvests and an ADA community celebration day, these projects demonstrate an ingenuity among Vermonters and their desire to enrich the lives of themselves and their community members.”

Spark Connecting Community is a VCF competitive grant program that puts building and nurturing community front and center. Grants support grassroots work throughout the state designed to strengthen social connections and community vitality. These grants—where a small amount can make a big difference—are intended to light the spark for local ideas to grow into meaningful opportunities for neighbors to connect.

Visit vermontcf.org/spark for more information.

2026 Grant Recipients

ANEW Place received $5,000 to support Neighbor to the Neighbor Aftercare Support Pilot, connecting program graduates with community members and creating consistent, relational support as Vermonters transition into independent housing. The pilot builds on existing relationships and complements formal case management by strengthening connection, stability, and belonging. County served: Chittenden

Black River Innovation Campus received $5,000 to support Hollywood, VT Phase Two. On Goldfish Pond Creative will expand Hollywood, VT, from a successful pilot into a structured program of three Vermont-connected films across the state, serving as a catalyst for civic dialogue, culminating in a live performance that brings together professional and community voices. County served: Windsor

Bright Side Play Place received $5,000 to supportthe Bright Side Community Connection Initiative, creating welcoming, low-barrier opportunities for families with young children in Franklin County to connect through shared play, parent support, and community partnerships. County served: Franklin

Champlain Islands Celebration of the Arts received $4,250 to support the Champlain Islands Youth Music and Dance Program. Champlain Islands elementary students will come together with professional instrumentalists, composers, teachers, and high school students to create original music for community residents and provide a public opportunity to showcase musical collaboration. County served: Grand Isle

Come Alive Outside received $5,000 to support Spooky Passport: a countywide community connection pilot for Rutland. Prioritizing lower-income households and shaped by community input, the passport highlights free and low-cost experiences in arts, the outdoors, and local traditions. Distributed to 15,000 households, it will reduce participation barriers and strengthen community pride and social connection. County served: Rutland

Community Action Response Network (CARN) received $5,000 to support its community action preparedness event. The network will cover preparedness skills, give away emergency first–aid tools and kits, feature Fire Department demonstrations, and offer food to attract a broad spectrum of town residents. County served: Rutland

Dad Guild received $5,000 to support a father’s initiative in Franklin County. The program will utilize a multifacited approach to provide community, resources, and support to dads and their children through a peer support network and special events. County served: Franklin

Downtown Brattleboro Alliance received $4,900 to support the Brattleboro Community Ambassadors Pilot Program. During signature events and busy weekends from June to December, friendly young Community Ambassadors will welcome locals and visitors to downtown Brattleboro, creating an upbeat, safe, and family-friendly atmosphere that encourages people to relax, connect, and have fun together. County served: Windham

Forest for Learning received $5,000 to support creating a performing arts amphitheater in a natural bowl adjacent to Putney Central School and within walking distance of downtown. It will provide a natural setting to bring community and schools together for the creation and enjoyment of performances, celebrations, and events. County served: Windham

The Town of Franklin received $5,000 to support FREE TO MAKE ART summer classes. This project aims to provide high-quality, free arts and crafts classes to residents of all ages in an accessible social setting. County served: Franklin

Habitat for Aviation received $5,000 to support SEE IT. TRY IT. BECOME IT., bringing hands-on aviation STEM build stations to community fairs and outreach events and giving youth and families a chance to use real tools, complete small take-home projects, and imagine themselves as builders, mechanics, and pilots. County served: Franklin

Johnson Renewal and Recreation Initiative Company received $5,000 to support Pondkeepers, an intergenerational community renewal project and documentary, bringing a local riverkeeper, ecologists, families, artists, and educators together to restore a long-neglected community pond through hands-on ecology, shared learning, and creative expression. County served: Lamoille

Leach Public Library received $5,000 to support an ADA Project Community Celebration for the opening of an addition that will make the century-old library accessible to all. The addition will include a renovated community room named for the late Irasburg author Howard Frank Mosher and his wife, Phillis, recognizing their contributions to the library and community. County served: Orleans

The Town of Lunenburg received $3,890 to support the Lunenburg Community Park Bench Project to purchase community benches to be placed in the grassy area between the Town Office Building and Lunenburg Station. The benches will provide a common meeting spot for residents to gather, exchange ideas, and build community vitality. County served: Essex

Merrymac Farm Sanctuary (MMFS) received $5,000 to support Shared Summer Harvest, an event in late summer 2026 centered on community connection, sharing the summer harvest, and repurposing surplus produce for rescue animals. The event will also serve as the public launch for MMFS’s new Education Room. County served: Chittenden

Monteverdi Music School received $4,000 to support Montpelier Porchfest. With help from numerous partners, Monteverdi Music School will bring Porchfest to Montpelier for the first time this September. By collaborating with and engaging a grassroots body of volunteers, the event will bring the community together through outdoor music, creating new connections and bolstering old ones. County served: Washington

Montgomery Recreation Center received $1,500 to support Montgomery Cares for Our Seniors, serving a homemade lunch once a month for anyone over 60 living in Montgomery with meals delivered to those unable to attend. The goal is to reduce hunger, support health, and improve quality of life. County served: Orleans

NEK Sew-Op received $5,000 to establish a fully equipped community workroom where people can gather to learn and practice sewing arts. The organization will offer time and space for individual pursuits, group classes and instruction, and a reclaimed materials shop. County served: Caledonia

North Country Union High School received $5,000 to support the Mobile Mug, North Country Union High School’s student-led coffee and baking program, empowering students, including those with special needs, through meaningful, real-world work experiences. County served: Orleans

Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont (NOFA-VT) received $5,000 to support Long-Handled Spoons Dinners, nourishing resilient communities one meal at a time. $200 micro-grants are available for community members to host neighborhood meals, purchase local, organic food from small-scale farmers, and strengthen community ties. County served: Statewide

Plainfield Resilience Hub received $5,000 to build a network of town municipality and community partners to strengthen relationships, collaboration, and coalition among town buildings, community spaces, activities, and efforts. Their goal is to strengthen both emergency and long term resilience through town-wide collaboration. County served: Washington

Richard Kemp Center of the Vermont Racial Justice Alliance received $5,000 to support Healing Justice. The Healing Justice program is a peer-led, non-clinical initiative creating culturally affirming spaces for Black Vermonters to process racial trauma, build resilience, and strengthen collective care. County served: Chittenden

River Gallery School (RGS) received $5,000 to support the Refugee Art Fund, supporting art education for New Vermonter youth in Brattleboro. Classes are led by RGS teaching artists alongside refugee artists in a mentorship model, expanding access to art education for youth while fostering professional development and career opportunities in the refugee community. County served: Windham

Salvation Farms received $4,569 to support Harvesting Connection Across Generations: Building Community Through Experience, Farms, and Food. Salvation Farms will partner with local organizations to deepen connections between community members, local farms, and the food system through a hands-on gleaning and community meal project. County served: Lamoille

Sandglass Theater received $3,195 to support Sandglass Theater Youth Panel Initiative, convening a five-member youth panel, in partnership with New England Youth Theatre and the Root Social Justice Center, to attend festival performances, facilitate artist forums, and build skills in critical thinking, public speaking, and civic engagement. County served: Windham

Sharon Connects received $1,520 to support Sharon Connects community outreach materials, including a refreshed website with a donation page, a printed community directory, and a monthly events newsletter. These tools will help more Sharon residents find neighbors, local resources, and community events, strengthening the social fabric of the town. County served: Windsor

South Hero Land Trust received $5,000 to support the Islandacres Trail Project, constructing the Islandacres Trail, a 1.2-mile public access trail along the edge of farm fields and a large wetland, connecting the village, school, local farms, and other trail networks. County served: Grand Isle

Starksboro Cooperative Preschool received $4,837 to support the Starksboro Cooperative Preschool Community Partnership, improving the preschool playground and revitalizing community garden plots to strengthen connections among children, families, and the broader community. County served: Addison

Step Out received $4,245 to support Shared Harvest, creating an urban garden at Hope Grove in St. Albans that brings together people in recovery and transition through planting, care, and shared harvests. The garden builds skills, relationships, and a sense of belonging, while creating opportunities to connect with the broader community. County served: Chittenden

Sustainable Woodstock received $5,000 to support Riverside Mobile Home Park Community Building. Sustainable Woodstock will partner with local organizations to host four community meetings on flood preparedness and resilience at Riverside Mobile Home Park. County served: Windsor

Troy Revitalization Committee received $2,500 to support Community Reconnection Through Mentorship, a weekly mentorship program pairing 10th and 11th graders with 3rd and 4th graders. High schoolers will reconnect with their home community and develop leadership skills, while younger students gain mentors who model civic engagement. County served: Orleans

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The Vermont Community Foundation was established in 1986 as an enduring source of philanthropic support for Vermont communities. A family of more than 1,000 funds, foundations, and supporting organizations, the Foundation makes it easy for the people who care about Vermont to find and fund the causes they love. The Community Foundation and its partners put more than $80 million annually to work in Vermont communities and beyond. The heart of its work is closing the opportunity gap—the divide that leaves too many Vermonters struggling to get ahead, no matter how hard they work. The Community Foundation envisions Vermont at its best—where everyone can build a bright, secure future. Visit vermontcf.org or call 802-388-3355 for more information. Give where your heart lives.