The Spark Connecting Community Program at the Vermont Community Foundation Announces $122,361 in Grants

The Vermont Community Foundation is pleased to announce that its Spark Connecting Community grant program has awarded $122,361 to 28 organizations across Vermont. Recipients, including schools, nonprofits, and community groups, will host local projects that connect people to place and strengthen community bonds. Vermonters will be brought together around art, youth programming, gardening, and food.

“The beauty of this grant program is the variety in types of projects we see across the state, but with the same purpose—to bring people together,” says VCF Director of Grants Jennifer duToit Barrett. “The grant projects, including unique mural projects, a live radio play, a flood-related book club, and a community-celebration day, demonstrate an ingenuity among Vermonters and their desire to enrich the lives of themselves and their community members.”

Spark Connecting Community is a competitive grant program at the Foundation that prioritizes building and nurturing community. The Community Foundation aims to support grassroots work throughout the state that builds social capital. These grants are a spark—inspiring community vitality and promoting health and happiness for Vermonters while showing that even small amounts can make a big difference.

Visit vermontcf.org/spark for updates and more information on the Spark Connecting Community grant program.

2025 Grant Recipients

Alice M. Ward Memorial Library received $700 for Community Programming for Kids and Wilderness Medicine. Local expert Jacques Belair will lead a wilderness medicine program, offering outdoor enthusiasts vital, potentially life-saving knowledge. County to be served: Essex

Arts Bus received $5,000 for Many-sided Morgans: Morgan Horse Way Finders to Roam Randolph. The villagers of Randolph—home of the Morgan Horse—will create a herd of horse-topped way finders adorned with original artwork, guiding residents and visitors across the town’s 50 square miles. County to be served: Orange

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Vermont received $5,000 for the Franklin County Youth Mentoring Project. This project will launch a Big Brothers Big Sisters mentoring program to connect local youth with caring adult mentors, fostering supportive, one-to-one relationships that promote personal growth, confidence, and long-term success. County to be served: Windham

Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC) received $5,000 for their Public Art Project with the Refugee Community. BMAC will work with artist Jonathan Gitelson, ECDC VT (a branch of a national refugee resettlement agency), and ArtLords (a collective of artist and activists, many of whom are refugees themselves) to facilitate a series of conversations and hands-on artmaking sessions exploring questions about national identity and what it means to be an American. County to be served: Windham

Camp Thorpe received $2,500 for Connecting Communities Through Day Camp. This summer camp for teens and adults with developmental disabilities is launching a Day Camp Pilot Program for summer 2025. County to be served: Chittenden

Dad Guild received $5,000 for Cardboard City – A Playgroup for Dads, Masculine-identifying caregivers, and their children. This playgroup will provide dads and kids with a monthly opportunity to work together to create art projects out of cardboard. County to be served: Chittenden

Epsilon Spires received $5,000 for Navigating the Labyrinth Together: A Community-Made Broadcast Media Project to Empower and Engage. Epsilon Spires will offer empowering workshops for the community to co-create, theatrically produce, and perform a live radio play in their venue with simultaneous live broadcasts on two independent, non-commercial, all-access media outlets. County to be served: Windham

Montpelier Senior Activity Center received $5,000 for Harvest to Home: A Community Preservation Project for FEAST Senior Meals and Meals on Wheels. This intergenerational food preservation project will purchase peak-season produce from local farms and host monthly volunteer days to process, freeze, and store nutritious food, ensuring that Meals on Wheels clients enjoy high-quality, local ingredients year-round. County to be served: Washington

Hartland Community Resilience (HRC) received $1,200 for Heartland Community Breakfasts. Formed in the spirit of mutual aid, in which neighbors help neighbors, HRC identifies local needs and connects community members with resources for overall well-being. They will start with reestablishing their popular and well attended, Hartland Community Breakfasts. County to be served: Windsor

Healthy Islands and Community Support (HICS) received $3,180 for Skate Library. Funds will support a free lending library for ice skates and other winter gear, available for use on groomed skating surfaces on Lake Champlain. County to be served: Grand Isle

Heritage Winooski Mill Museum received $5,000 for Stitch Together – Forging Connections. The project will offer a series of community building knitting workshops and activities for East African Refugee women living in the greater Burlington area. County to be served: Chittenden

Lake Champlain Maritime Museum received $5,000 for Revolutionary Art for Revolutionary Times. In partnership with Juniper Creative Arts and local Addison County school groups, the museum will create a public mural on thier grounds as part of their commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution. County to be served: Addison

Mad River Valley Arts received $5,000 for Mad River Mural Arts Project. They will weave ‘Design Elements’ at junctures along ‘The Heart of the Valley’ trail in Waitsfield to unify the business district. County to be served: Washington

Monkton Day Project received $3,900 for Monkton Day. This town-wide celebration will feature music, talks, demonstrations, contests, workshops, and food offerings created by the community, highlighting Monkton’s agricultural heritage and community spirit. County to be served: Addison

Northeast Kingdom Chamber of Commerce received $5,000 for Leadership NEK. This 10-month leadership incubator will help empower emerging leaders to take an active role in advancing their skills while strengthening the Northeast Kingdom. County to be served: Caledonia

Roxbury Roots received $4,850 for Roxbury Roots Food Preservation & Education Workshop Series. This series of hands-on food preservation and education workshops will bring together community members of all ages to learn canning, pickling, fermenting, and batch freezing techniques. County to be served: Washington

Rural ARTS Collaborative received $5,000 for Voices Sustained: Writing Through Winter. In this multi-generational arts series in Hardwick, writers will work with author Peter Gould and potters will craft bowls with Heather Stearns, culminating in a shared meal and performance. County to be served: Orleans

Rutland Northeast Supervisory Union received $5,000 for a Juniper Creative Arts residency and community-based mural at Neshobe School. Students, staff, and community members will collaborate on a 40-foot mural to strengthen bonds and amplify student voices. County to be served: Rutland

Sustainable Woodstock received $5,000 for their Summer Garden Education Series. This series will feature events focused on gardening, food, and the natural environment, providing the community with opportunities to learn and engage. County to be served: Windsor

Swanton Arts Council received $3,107 for Swanton Fieldworks: Many Hands, Many Murals. At public “Swanton Paints” events, residents will help create murals to form a “fence-line gallery” at the town’s recreation fields. County to be served: Franklin

The Civic Standard received $5,000 for The Civic Café. This new project will foster cooperative entrepreneurship and serve as a community-building space for Hardwick area teenagers and young adults. The program will provide job training in culinary arts, customer service, and creative community organizing, while offering youth opportunities for mentorship, collaboration, and future planning. County to be served: Caledonia

United Immigrant & Refugee Communities (UIRC) of Vermont received $5,000 for We Belong Here: Community Story Circles for Connection & Belonging. This project will host 3–5 “Community Story Circles” across Vermont, where immigrants, refugees, and longtime residents share stories of migration and belonging. County to be served: Chittenden

Vermont River Conservancy received $4,939 for Community Connections to Flood Resilience through Literature. Neighbors will host a series of three Central Vermont book groups where participants can read together, discuss and process personal experience with floods, and learn and exchange ideas for ways communities can take steps to improve flood resilience. County to be served: Washington

Vermont Student Anti-Racism Network received $3,000 for In Person Youth Gatherings. This program will host meetings, events, and collaborative spaces during summer and out-of-school periods. County to be served: Bennington

Vermont Wildlife Patrol received $4,985 for Beaver Wise: Community Solutions for Wetlands & Waterways. Beaver Wise is a hands-on community stewardship initiative bringing neighbors together to foster skills in non-lethal beaver management and wetlands protection. County to be served: Washington

Village Hydroponics received $5,000 for Roots of Learning. This community-driven educational initiative combines hands-on hydroponic learning with weekly community veggetable distributions. County to be served: Chittenden

Wallingford Elementary School received $5,000 for Wildcat Outdoor Learning Center. This center is being developed by school staff, parents, and community partners to improve students’ socio-emotional and cognitive development, address challenges to mental health and well-being, and deepen youth connections with nature to promote more inclusive and engaging learning. County to be served: Rutland

White River Craft Center (WRCC) received $5,000 for Color Our Common Ground. In collaboration with Randolph Area Community Development, Orange County Restorative Justice, local artists, and businesses, WRCC will create panel-based public art murals in downtown Randolph. County to be served: Orange

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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 nearly $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.