Friends of Five Rivers wins $27,000 grant to promote site use, membership and volunteerism
DELMAR – On July 30, Parks & Trails New York Grants Manager Jonathan Duda presented Friends of Five Rivers with a blown up replica of a grant check for $27, 638. The grant, initially awarded in January and paid in two tranches, is funding Capital Region wide marketing and outreach efforts to bolster community engagement, membership and volunteerism at Delmar’s Five Rivers Educational Center.
Friends of Five Rivers Executive Director Paulette Doudoukjian, who accepted the award at the ceremony, said the last grant installment was already paid, but was delighted to have Friends of Five Rivers’ efforts recognized in a ceremonial presentation. “It is exciting that we have made so many inroads in what we are doing as a not-for-profit and being recognized in this way for what we have achieved and what we continue to strive to do,” she said.
Established in 1972, Friends of Five Rivers is a not-for-profit corporation whose mission is to support environmental education, enhance visitor experiences and promote the interests of the Five Rivers Environmental Education Center. Five Rivers is owned and operated by the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
Doudoukjian said the grant money will allow Friends of Five Rivers to redesign its website, produce a more professionally designed brochure and other membership recruitment efforts, such as tabling. Those projects are geared at increasing both membership and volunteers. She said that, like any small not-for-profit, Friends of Five Rivers relies on the “time and talent” of volunteers to supplement its small staff. “People don’t know about the volunteer opportunities here at Five Rivers,” Doudoukjian said. She hopes to change that with the projects the grant will pay for.
The total project cost is $31, 308. Doudoukjian said because the grant has a minimum 10% matching requirement, Friends of Five Rivers was required to raise an additional $3, 750 (12%) to pay for the project. She said nearly the entire amount has been raised through both cash and in-kind donations, such as graphic design assistance from Modern Press. Doudoukjian is certain they will meet the match requirement.
Friends of Five Rivers is sharing in a total of $1.8 million awarded by Parks & Trails New York, to 27 of 53 applicants statewide. Parks & Trails New York, a statewide not-for-profit organization, works in partnership with the state Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation and the state DEC. These grants are made available through the State’s Environmental Protection Fund and administered by the DEC.
Duda said the grants are made to “friends groups” of New York parks and historic sites. “It’s such an excellent private-public partnership. Friends groups are invaluable to these sites because they fill in the gaps the state park sites can’t handle or provide other enhancements,” Duda said.
Duda said Friends of Five Rivers received the nod because of their “strong application, which expressed the need and because their project involves reaching out to the community to bring more of the community to the site.” He also cited their “good track record.” Duda said it was also significant that the Friends of Five Rivers project aims to increase membership 12% or by 40 members annually over the next five years. Duda noted that membership is a “key source” of income.
The deadline for the next grant round is August 31. Doudoukjian said Friends of Five Rivers will apply again. This time, although the request amount has yet to be determined, the ask will be for support of the winter maple programs. “We need items to help those programs because outdoors in the winter gets a little chilly,” Doudoukjian said.
Duda said he encourages Friends of Five Rivers to apply for another grant. “The beauty of this program is we see grass roots organizations working out of love for their site,” Duda said.
Doudoukjian agreed. “We want to showcase ourselves a bit more to advance our mission of environmental education and create future generations of environmental stewards.”
