Deadline: 10-Jul-23
Applications are now open for the Merck Family Fund to Restore and protect the natural environment and ensure a healthy planet for generations to come and strengthen the social fabric and the physical landscape of the urban community.
Fund’s Program Areas of Interest
- Conserving Ecologically Valuable Land
- Urban sprawl, resource extraction, and poorly enforced environmental regulations place enormous pressures on natural resources. A healthy world needs a combination of outright protections, sustainable use policies to ensure clean air, clean water, and healthy land. The geographic focus of this area will be the southeastern United States, with priority given to the Southern Appalachians and the states of Tennessee, North Carolina, Kentucky, South Carolina, Georgia, and Virginia.
- Specifically, the Fund welcomes proposals that:
- Advocate for and secure public financial resources and commitments to land protection.
- Demonstrate community engagement and certified sustainable management of land particularly concerning forestry and farming.
- Provide leadership to existing and emerging coalitions that build a multi-stakeholder voice.
- Reducing CO2 Emissions Through Energy Efficiency
- Without a price on carbon emissions, the cheapest and fastest way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is through energy efficiency. The Fund’s strategy is to support efficiency policies and implementation efforts in the Northeast and Southeast.
- Specifically, the Fund welcomes proposals that:
- Advocate for residential and commercial utility programs that result in measurable energy efficiencies.
- Demonstrate financing models that create affordable capital for investments in efficiency.
- Provide incentives or mandates that result in utility-based efficiency programs.
- Urban Farming and Youth Leadership
- Growing food in community is a collective and personal entry point to many systemic issues including: health and nutrition, job training, environmental sustainability, and the creation of social capital. The local cultivation and distribution of fresh, healthy, and affordable food raises the awareness about quality and access something sorely lacking in low-income communities. This program at the Merck Family Fund will support programs in low-income urban areas that are harnessing the power of young people to create urban farms and local markets.
- Specifically, the Fund welcomes proposals that:
- Provide high quality leadership development and employment for youth.
- Support highly productive urban farming projects and increase local access to fresh food.
- Engage residents in food access and food security issues in the community.
- Priority will be given to projects that combine all aspects and must reside in Massachusetts, New York City, and Philadelphia.
Limitations
- The Merck Family Fund contributes to tax-exempt C3 organizations in the United States. It does not support individuals, for-profit organizations, or candidates for political office. The Fund does not generally support: governmental organizations, academic research or books, endowments, debt reduction, annual fund-raising campaigns, capital construction, purchase of equipment, the acquisition of land, or video projects. Overhead and indirect costs from universities may not exceed 15% of the grant budget.
For more information, visit Merck Family Fund.
