LONG ISLAND CITY, NY, February 19, 2012
/24-7PressRelease/ -- The Long Island City based volunteer group, Friends of Gantry Plaza State Park, (FriendsofGantry.org) is recipient of one of 11 Parks & Trails New York (PTNY) Capacity Building Grants. These grants, totaling more than $18,000 were awarded recently by the statewide advocacy group Parks & Trails New York to not-for-profit park and trail organizations. The Friends will use the funds to increase organizational visibility, generate community support, grow membership, and attract additional volunteers. In addition to working in Gantry Plaza State Park, the Friends group (a/k/a Friends of Gantry Neighborhood Parks at Hunters Point) continues to work with city parks, greenstreets and street trees.
PTNY's program is unique in that it supports activities not normally covered by existing grants. Most grants available to not-for-profits fund capital projects and specific programs while PTNY's capacity building grants focus on developing and strengthening the skills, processes, and resources that will allow park and trail groups to thrive and become more engaged partners with state and local government.
"Hundreds of not-for-profit organizations are working to build, protect, and promote our state's parks and trails --- helping to provide not only places to engage in healthy physical activity and close to home recreation but also additional tourist dollars to strengthen local economies," said Robin Dropkin, Parks & Trails New York Executive Director. "With this grant program, we have been able to propel groups to new levels and enable them to leverage more private funding and marshal more volunteer power to better fill the growing gaps in government spending."
Since it initiated the awards program in 2009, PTNY has assisted 36 organizations in 25 New York counties.
Friends of Gantry Plaza State Park received $2,600. The group has recently developed a new website at FriendsofGantry.org and will be using the grant to design, print and mail informative material to the surrounding neighborhoods. Postcards will offer information about Gantry Plaza State Park, and motivate volunteers to join the group in their hands-on efforts to maintain the park and its gardens. The postcard will also serve to introduce the website where photos of past projects, information regarding the various committees, how to donate, and a list of upcoming events will be found.
Bill Bylewski, VP of Friends, has stated that, "Gantry Plaza State Park has been a highlight of the Long Island City area since its opening in 1998. Expansion of this beautiful waterfront park, in a time of limited State funding, has meant that our volunteers are an even more important factor in maintaining the gardens and natural resources of the Park. With our limited financial resources, it has been difficult for us to spread the word about our work, and to seek new volunteers. Friends of Gantry is grateful to PTNY for enabling us to reach out to the greater community to create awareness of the Park and of our efforts. We are also grateful to our web designer, Omar De Leo, for the many hours he donated putting together the information the group has accumulated over its 13 years to create a fact-filled and interesting website for us. We hope everyone will take a moment to visit FrendsofGantry.org."
Parks & Trails New York also awarded grants for year 2012 to
Fallsburg Rails to Trails Committee, Sullivan County
Friends of Minekill and Max V. Shaul State Parks, Schoharie County
Friends of the Chemung River Watershed, Chemung County
Northville Placid Trail Chapter of Adirondack Mountain Club, Essex, Fulton, and Hamilton counties
Saratoga Mountain Bike Association, Rensselaer
Great Swamp Conservancy, Madison County
Battenkill Conservancy, Washington County
Friends of Fahnestock and Hudson Highlands State Parks, Dutchess and Putnam counties
Kingston Land Trust, Ulster County
Concerned Citizens of Montauk, Suffolk County
Parks & Trails New York received 42 applications from organizations located in 34 counties throughout the state.
Parks & Trails New York is the leading statewide advocate for parks and trails, dedicated since 1985 to improving the health and quality of life of all New Yorkers by working with community organizations and municipalities to envision, create, promote, and protect a growing network of parks, greenways and trails throughout the state for all to use and enjoy.
More information on the capacity grant program and Parks & Trails New York can be found at http://www.ptny.org or by calling 518-434-1583.
Friends was started in 1998 by a group of concerned neighbors in the Hunters Point, Long Island City section of New York City, in the borough of Queens, who wanted to assure that our community's parks, trees and natural areas are well cared for.
Friends is incorporated as a 501(c)(3) non profit organization — a direct-action environmental group that employs volunteering in hands-on projects as a means of enhancing our neighborhood, and as an educational approach to promote a safer, friendlier and more environmentally sustainable quality of life.
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