Give to Tomorrow® Grant Program
Since 2015, Clarke has granted a portion of its annual sales to non-profit organizations advancing environmental causes through its Give to Tomorrow® grant program. With the announcement of this year’s recipients, Clarke celebrates the milestone of donating over half a million dollars through this program in the past eight years. The following 2022 grant winners are each receiving $15,000 to further the work they do locally and globally:
• Clean the World Foundation, Orlando, FL
• Home for Life, Stillwater, MN
• Clark Fork Coalition, Missoula, MT
• Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, New Orleans, LA
• Casa Vó Benedita, Santos, Brazil
• The Nature Conservancy Virginia Reserve, Arlington, VA
• Alliance for the Great Lakes, Chicago, IL
“The ‘Give to Tomorrow’ grant program is an important part of Clarke’s ongoing commitment to making communities more livable, safe and comfortable, and we’re proud to support the excellent work of these organizations,” said J. Lyell Clarke, President and CEO of Clarke.
The Clarke “Give to Tomorrow” grant program recognizes and supports non-profit organizations that are striving to restore, preserve and protect the wellbeing of people, the environment, wildlife and food production or access. Deserving non-profits from across Clarke’s business regions are nominated through the company’s sales representatives, and all Clarke coworkers vote to select the grant recipients each year.
“We were surprised and grateful to be a recipient of the Give to Tomorrow grant,” stated Home for Life’s Director Lisa LaVerdiere. “The grant award is especially meaningful in that it is the Clarke employees who nominate and vote for the grant recipients, and who were moved by Home for Life’s mission and programs.”
This global organization headquartered in Orlando works to organize and provide sustainable resources to and educational programming focused on water, sanitation, and hygiene for those affected by poverty, homelessness, and humanitarian or natural crisis.
The Give to Tomorrow grant funding will support ongoing CWF efforts in the Dominican Republic and is projected to improve the hygiene and health of close to 1,500 children. This grant will provide materials to build and maintain handwashing stations for up to six schools. The funding will also help provide educational material to schools with new hand washing stations helping to ensure proper hygiene practices. By encouraging behavioral changes on a grassroots level, the effects of these programs will be felt into the communities where the students live.
Learn more at: https://cleantheworldfoundation.org/
The mission of the CFC is to protect and restore the Clark Fork River basin, a 14-million-acre watershed draining over 28,000 miles of rivers and streams in western Montana and a portion of northern Idaho. CFC uses a science-based, community-focused approach to ensure the waterways of the Clark Fork basin flow clear, cold, clean and abundant, now and for generations to come.
Learn more at: https://clarkfork.org/
CFC plans to use the grant funding for their “Bring Back the Bitterroot” initiative, which is focusing on improving ecological conditions in high-priority tributaries in the iconic Bitterroot basin. Specifically, this grant will help improve instream habitat for wild and native trout, including weststlope cutthroat and threatened bull trout. Work includes increasing habitat complexity to help lower water temperatures and enhance water quality, reducing bank erosion, restoring instream flow, and ensuring access to cool headwaters habitat that serves as a life-saving “climate shield” during Montana’s increasingly hot, dry summers. Together these treatments will help boost the resilience of some of the Bitterroot’s most important strongholds for native fish and other wildlife, including bear, elk, moose, mountain lions, lynx, songbirds, raptors, beaver, and many other species.
Home for Life is a sanctuary for disabled animals where they receive medical attention and are given a stable, loving and safe environment. They provide lifesaving alternative for animals who might otherwise have been passed over for adoption because of their age or special care needs that most adopters cannot provide.
The Give to Tomorrow funding will go directly towards providing veterinary medical care for animals who are in need of extraordinary care that is not available through typical rescues or shelters. Home for Life projects that between 10 and 20 animals will be positively impacted by the grant funding.
Learn more at: https://homeforlife.org/
Since the 1930s, more than 2,000 square miles of coastal wetlands have vanished, turning into open water. Communities have had to relocate, fisheries have been devastated and Louisiana’s rich culture is at risk. The Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana has been a fundamental part of the movement to save Louisiana’s coastline by planting native trees and grasses to help anchor fragile soil, by training the next generation of coastal leaders and by advocating for policy solutions that will lead to the best possible outcomes for the future.
The Give to Tomorrow grant funding will be used to support the educational components of restoration programs, the Native Plants Program, and the Oyster Shell Recycling Program. These programs use volunteers to plant native trees and grasses and to process oyster shell, then deploy the shell into the water to construct living shorelines. As part of these programs, CRCL seeks to inform and educate volunteers about the causes of coastal land loss, the reasons why coastal land loss must be stopped and the solutions that are available. They learn about the many ways to get involved in coastal restoration and interact with members of communities that are on the front lines of coastal land loss.
Learn more at: https://www.crcl.org/
Casa Vó Benedita is a shelter that cares for children exposed to personal and social risk due to food insecurities, abandonment, neglect, abuse or orphanhood. They provide a full-time home to children who do not have a safe living environment. They also provide programs to help rebuild and strengthen families who need extra resources and help with childcare. Learn more at https://casavobenedita.org.br/
The Give to Tomorrow funds will be used directly towards meeting the needs of sheltered children, children at CVB’s night care center and towards families in situations of social vulnerability. The additional funding will positively impact over 150 families – a total of over 750 children and parents.
The Nature Conservancy is a four-time winner of Clarke’s Give to Tomorrow grant. Their work serves as a model for how conservation can help both human and natural communities adapt and become more resilient in the face of a changing climate. By protecting and preserving the undeveloped barrier and marsh islands of the Volgenau Coast —the longest expanse of coastal wilderness remaining on the east coast—The Nature Conservancy Virginia Coast Reserve helps to protect Eastern Shore communities from storm surges and sea level rise, as well as provide critical wildlife habitat.
Learn more at: https://www.nature.org/en-us/about-us/where-we-work/united-states/virginia/stories-in-virginia/virginia-coast-reserve/
The Alliance for the Great Lakes is a nonpartisan nonprofit working across the region to protect a precious resource: the fresh, clean and natural waters of the Great Lakes. The Alliance for the Great Lakes connects and empowers people to advocate, give back and take action to protect the lakes. This includes partnering with communities and decision makers to develop actionable solutions, empowering communities by providing action-oriented information and programs, and by guiding policy to protect the Great Lakes.
The Give to Tomorrow campaign will fund the continued efforts to provide safe, clean, affordable water to the 40 million residents who rely on the Great Lakes. This includes creating or strengthening policies at the local, state and national level to relieve water stressors from communities most in need. Such remedies include helping remove nearly 400,000 lead service lines in the city of Chicago, reducing the flow of nutrient pollution into Green Bay or western Lake Erie, or halting the introduction of invasive carp into the Lakes through protective measures being implemented at the Brandon Road Lock & Dam. All of these efforts will engage residents at the community level, and allow them a voice in shaping policies that provide healthy water outcomes.
If you have a suggestion for a deserving non-profit organization in your community, recommend it for nomination through your local Clarke sales representative. Find your local rep below if you don’t have their contact information handy already.