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VF Search Results

Click on a project's title to see the full text of the proposal.

98 projects match your criteria.


Development of Tourist Services in Central Asian Mountains
Project Picture Goal: To establish locally-run tourist services in Fanskii Park and assist a community in establishing an NGO.
Region: Central Asia, Tajikistan
Status: Funded and Ongoing Budget: $2750
Comment: Helping the local community in the Fanskii Mountains establish sustainable tourist services for visitors to the park will benefit the area both ecologically and economically.

Donors: Ron Blum, Massachusetts (January 2001)
Project Donors


E-TV: Baltic Sea Video Will Promote Environmental Awareness & Action
Project Picture Result: To produce a video clip for Lithuanian television that promotes environmental action and cleaning up the Baltic Sea.
Region: Baltics, Central and Eastern Europe, Lithuania
Status: Completed - Final Report Budget: $2227 Comment: Complex problems call for creative solutions - this project addresses the issue of environmental awareness in Lithuania in a way that will appeal to a wide spectrum of the population. See the Progress Report for more information.

Donors: Lithuanian Regional TV - Kaunas TV; with matching funds from the Virtual Foundation [September 1999]
Project Donors


Ex Libris II - Continuation of Varketeli Library
Project Picture Result: To sustain the Varketili library project in Tbilisi, Georgia, and to keep the facility open to the public until additional funds are obtained.
Region: Caucasus, Georgia
Status: Completed - Final Report Budget: $550 Comment: The Varketili Community Based Organization started this library in 1998. The library is meeting a public demand for information and a place to exchange ideas in this low-income neighborhood.

Donors: Marion Butler, Pennsylvania, and Virtual Foundation Matching Funds [March 1999]
Project Donors


Preserving History and Nature's Beauty
Project Picture Result: In order to continue their voluntary work and make it more efficient, the Friends of Vilnius University Botanical Garden would like to acquaint themselves with the activities of volunteers in the botanical gardens and heritage parks in Finland.
Region: Baltics, Central and Eastern Europe, Lithuania
Status: Completed - Final Report Budget: $2200 Comment: The group will spend seven days in Finland touring arboretums and botanical gardens.

Donors: Funds collected by the Friends of the University of Vilnius Botanical Garden, with Virtual Foundation Matching Funds [June 1999]
Project Donors


The Chinese American Friendship Forest
Project Picture Goal: To create a memorial for the three Chinese journalists killed during the accidental NATO bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, in May 1999. This project has no set budget. Your donation will add trees, one by one, to the forest. To date, a total of $2430 has been collected.
Region: China
Status: Funded and Ongoing Budget: $0
Comment: People from the United States found a way to build bridges to the Chinese people in the aftermath of the NATO bombing. This on-going project supports citizen-to-citizen international cooperation; see the Progress Report.

Donors: [1999 - 2001]
Anonymous (3)
Andrea Crescente
Allan and Carolyn Harris
Lory Harris,
on behalf of Colin and Jessica;
Josephine Hay
Willis Hay
Joe and Kim Ksyniak
Bonnie Mac Donald
David and Andy Nowakowski
Linda Oot
Joe Pierpont
Esther Mathews Schmidt
Charles Scott
Diane Schnaars
Lori Shemanski
Matthew, Sarah, and Bradley Sopinski;
Lydia Thompson,
in memory of Nate Krueger;
Barbara Tinker
Thomas Walski
Clara Wolf
Kimberly Wolf
Richard Wolf
James Woodworth.
Project Donors


Help a Local NGO Fight Construction of a Nuclear Power Plant
Project Picture Result: This financial support allowed members of an environmental NGO to travel to Moscow and testify in proceedings to halt the construction of a nuclear power plant
Region: Russia
Status: Completed - Final Report Budget: $220 Comment: Up against a complex Russian bureaucracy, the participants did not succeed in their goals. However, they deeply appreciated the support which made their efforts possible.

Donors: Anonymous Donor [May 1999]
Project Donors


Specialists Seek Training for Wetlands Restoration
Project Picture Result: To allow two specialists from Lithuania to travel to the US to gain valuable knowledge about wetland restoration.
Region: Baltics, Central and Eastern Europe, Lithuania
Status: Completed - Final Report Budget: $3517 Comment: Currently there are few resources available in Lithuania to aid groups restoring wetlands. Training in the US will enable two specialists to return to Lithuania with needed information and strategies.

Donors: Lithuanian wetland experts, with matching funds from the Trust for Mutual Understanding [May 1999]
Project Donors


Linking US & Russian Communities Through Environmental Management Councils
Project Picture Result: To provide a Russian intern with training in a community-based approach towards environmental management systems, so that this model may be replicated in the Russian Federation.
Region: Russia
Status: Completed - Final Report Budget: $5285 Comment: Investing in the education and technical expertise of Russian citizens will have long term benefits for both Russia and the US.

Donors: St. Joseph County (Michigan) Community Environmental Management Council, and Virtual Foundation matching funds [April 1999]
Project Donors


Eco-Minded Youth to Clean Up Beach in Kazakstan
Project Picture Result: To restore a beach in the town of Atbasar so that the public may use it again and attract public attention to water pollution and its sources in the area.
Region: Central Asia, Kazakstan
Status: Completed - Final Report Budget: $1658 Comment: Cleaning up the riverside beach has united youth groups, benefited public health and strengthened this community in Kazakstan.

Donors: Upper Mohawk Valley Model United Nations at Hamilton College, Colgate, New York, October 1999; with Virtual Foundation Matching Funds
Project Donors


Windows on Nature
Project Picture Result: To clean three parks in Vilnius and to make an educational film for the public depicting the beauty of these recreational areas.
Region: Baltics, Central and Eastern Europe, Lithuania
Status: Completed - Final Report Budget: $830 Comment: This project was only partially completed. Please see the Progress Report .

Donors: Anonymous [August 1999]
Project Donors


Trees to Benefit & Beautify Community in Brest
Project Picture Result: To empower local residents by showing them that they can improve their environment and beautify their surroundings.
Region: Belarus, Central and Eastern Europe
Status: Completed - Final Report Budget: $1661 Comment: This project not only addressed an environmental issue in a Belarusian city, it also encouraged citizens there to organize and participate in civic activities. Progress Report

Donors: Chenango Forks Model United Nations Conference at Broome Community College, Binghamton New York [April 1999] with Virtual Foundation Matching Funds
Project Donors


Biosphere to Clean Up Water in Tajikistan
Project Picture Result: To clean up the water supply of the region and to involve the local inhabitants in environmental education and activism.
The August 2001 Progress Report documents the first steps.
Region: Central Asia, Tajikistan
Status: Completed - Final Report Budget: $2178 Comment: By increasing public awareness of a local health hazard & encouraging citizens to participate in actions for a cleaner environment, this project is benefitting civic consciousness as well as public health.



Donors: Ron Blum, Massachusetts, January 2001

Project Donors


Thanka Painting School Supports Community in Nepal
Project Picture Result: The Buddha Darshan Club is providing the local community with painting skills to be used for job development.
Region: Nepal, South and Southeast Asia
Status: Completed - Final Report Budget: $3482 Comment: This project will bring greater independence through development of skills (teaching the ancient art of Thanka painting, and also basic literacy). Provision of a sustainable source of electricity (a solar photovoltaic system)enables classes to be held at night.


Donors: Yutaka Okamoto; Yoshiko Okamoto; Virtual Foundation Japan - Kyoto Branch; Ryukoku University Students; Individual Japanese citizens; Virtual Foundation Matching Funds; Kim Wolf; Shannon Simrell [May - July 2000]
Project Donors


Trees for Life - Grow a Tree (Second Year)
Project Picture Result: Children learn to respect the natural environment through caring for their own small trees, from germinating in their classrooms, to planting outdoors.
Region: China
Status: Completed - Final Report Budget: $1100 Comment: This year's expansion of "Trees for Life" enabled children from 10 elementary schools in Xinjiang Autonomous Province to participate.

Donors: "Friends of the Fragile Earth", Church of the Epiphany, Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania [December 1999] with Virtual Foundation Matching Funds
Project Donors


Trees for Life - Grow a Tree (Third Year, 2001)
Project Picture Goal: Children from different elementary schools throughout China participate in this project, which consists of germinating and planting their own trees. They will also write short papers on their experiences.
Region: China
Status: Funded and Ongoing Budget: $500
Comment: The American donor, "Friends of the Fragile Earth", has ensured that this project was replicated and expanded to involve more schools and children in the coming year.

View the Progress Report, July 2001.

Donors: "Friends of the Fragile Earth", Church of the Epiphany, Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania [January 2001]

Project Donors


Romanian Civil Society Experts Seek Travel Grant To Attend International Fellowship In Nonprofit Governance
Project Picture Result: Program participants from four continents gathered for two weeks of intensive training, workshops and networking on issues of board development.
Region: Balkans, Central and Eastern Europe, Romania
Status: Completed - Final Report Budget: $1540 Comment: The two representatives from Romania needed funding for their travel and visa costs, iin order to participate. The National Center for Nonprofit Boards, Washington DC, covered all of their expenses inside the U.S.

Donors: The National Center for Nonprofit Boards (Washington, DC), with matching funding from the Trust for Mutual Understanding [November 1998]
Project Donors


Czech NGO Activists Seek Travel Grant To Promote Development Of Information Highway
Project Picture Result: Two activists working in the Czech Republic traveled to an international conference and to the United States in order to exchange information concerning uses of the Internet in NGO work.
Region: Central and Eastern Europe, Czech Republic
Status: Completed - Final Report Budget: $5500 Comment: This travel grant increased the level of cooperation between NGOs in Latin America and Central Europe. NGOs in these regions have much in common. These commonalities have been explored very little as both regions have primarily focused upon contacts with the US and western Europe.

Donors: The Association for Progressive Communicators with matching funds from the Trust For Mutual Understanding [August 1998]
Project Donors


Education for Life: Managing Diabetes
Project Picture Result: This program educated Georgian diabetics in foot care, lifestyle management, and blood sugar monitoring; one of the goals is to reduce lower-extremity amputations among this population.
Region: Caucasus, Georgia
Status: Completed - Final Report Budget: $3872 Comment: Such preventive medical programs raise the quality of human life and health. Individuals are empowered to take control of this aspect of their lives; health professionals are able to see improvement in the population they care for.

Donors: Stanley Music, Natia Gvatua Music, with funds matched by the Tri-State United Way Fund, via Merck Pharmaceutical Employee Contributions plan [November 1999]
Project Donors


Farmer-Monks Teach Children by Solar Power
Project Picture Result: This grant provided solar lighting to monasteries in Nepal. Farmer-monks who tended to the education of village children by kerosene or wood fire light, often at great risk to their eyes, lungs, and health, now perform their duties by solar-powered electric light.
Region: Nepal, South and Southeast Asia
Status: Completed - Final Report Budget: $1496 Comment: International aid often misses remote villages in Nepal. Although they have very little, villagers matched Mr. Tamura's VF donation by providing shelter and food for technicians while they installed the equipment.

Donors: Nanei Tamura, Japan [June 1998]
Project Donors


Ex Libris: New Hope for an Ancient Society
Project Picture Result: To open a public library in the Varketili district of Tbilisi, Georgia; to support residents of the district with information and access to news media so that they may become familiar with and involved in the changes in their society.
Region: Caucasus, Georgia
Status: Completed - Final Report Budget: $1091 Comment: Varketili is one of the poorest suburbs of Tbilisi, Georgia. Most residents cannot afford a newspaper. Opening a public library is vitally important for the local community. It will fill the information deficit that was created by the financial and political crises.

Donors: Marion Butler and friends, with Virtual Foundation Matching Funds [July 1998]
Project Donors


Greening the Wounded Czech Landscape
Project Picture Result: This grant encouraged the start of landscape revitalization in the Czech Republic.
Region: Central and Eastern Europe, Czech Republic
Status: Completed - Final Report Budget: $1375
Donors: Chenango Forks Model United Nations Club, Binghamton, New York [April 1998], with Virtual Foundation Matching Funds
Project Donors


Bright Lights, Quiet Nights; Solar Energy for Nepali Community
Project Picture Result: The Solar Electric Lighting was installed in the Buddhist monastery in November, 1998. It provides a clean source of indoor light, and improves human health (vision and lungs) by eliminating the indoor burning of wood and kerosene.
Region: Nepal, South and Southeast Asia
Status: Completed - Final Report Budget: $2500 Comment: This was truly an international cooperative venture between local communities and a motivated Nepalese enterprise with funded by Japanese donors.

Donors: Professor Nobuo Ota & students at the Chiba University of Commerce, Japan; assisted by Dr. Takemi Ichimura of Tokyo Life Science Laboratory [October 1998]
Project Donors


Youth to Preserve Nature and History in Czech Carpathian Mountains
Project Picture Result: To initiate an international summer camp of youth volunteers who will restore natural and historical sites, thereby catalyzing local preservation efforts.
Region: Central and Eastern Europe, Czech Republic
Status: Completed - Final Report Budget: $374 Comment: The American high school students who chose to fund this project liked the idea of a teenage summer camp devoted to natural and historic preservation efforts. One expressed the wish to attend the camp himself.

Donors: Chenango Forks Model UN Club Members, Chenango Forks High School, Binghamton, New York [March 1999], with Virtual Foundation Matching Funds
Project Donors


Students Monitor Air in Beijing
Project Picture Goal: Twenty students and 2 teachers will sample and test air in industrial and residential sites of Beijing. Students will use their project to raise awareness of air quality issues among other students and encourage environmental protection activities.
Region: China
Status: Funded and Ongoing Budget: $1100

Donors: Derek Chung Fund, San Francisco Foundation, California; Anonymous, California; and matching funds from the Trace Foundation [June 2002]
Project Donors


Bills and Feathers: Environmental Education Exchange with China
Project Picture Result: To supply bird watching materials to young students in China and to develop international linkages between young bird watchers in the U.S. and China.
Region: China
Status: Completed - Final Report Budget: $550
Donors: Kirk Davis [August 1997]
Project Donors


Demonstration of Sustainable Development in Rural Hungary
Project Picture Goal: To model organic farming, sustainable forest management, housing alternatives, and ecotourism. Civil servants “on loan” can provide full time staff to supplement volunteer efforts, if living costs are funded.
Region: Central and Eastern Europe, Hungary
Status: Funded and Ongoing Budget: $385
Comment: This project represents a creative partnership between a citizens’ group and local government. It also provides a creative and challenging alternative to growing consumerism in the region.

Donors: EurasiaGroupa (student NGO at Central European University in Budapest); Scott Link & Shannon Simrell; Mike & Alene Case [June 1999]
Project Donors


Pen Pals: Protecting Nature and Promoting Peace
Project Picture Result: As a result of this grant, one hundred and twenty students in Central Asia’s Kazakstan developed a pen pal program with three ecological clubs in the U.S. and exchanged information about local environmental conditions and life in their regions.
Region: Central Asia, Kazakstan
Status: Completed - Final Report Budget: $154 Comment: The world views of hundreds of youths were changed for the cost of envelopes, pencils, stamps, and photographs.

Donors: Upper Mohawk Valley Model United Nations Conference at Hamilton College [December 1997], and the UNA-USA of Upper Mohawk Valley, with Virtual Foundation Matching Funds
Project Donors


Protecting Family Farms from Desertification in Kyrgyzstan
Project Picture Result: To prevent desertification of 30 hectares of farmland and renew this land for families in Kyrgyzstan by returning water taken from them by other regional farms after the break up of the USSR.
Region: Central Asia, Kyrgyzstan
Status: Completed - Final Report Budget: $2310 Comment: The livelihood of two hundred families has been significantly improved, by providing them with a low-cost sustainable irrigation system.

Donors: Upper Mohawk Valley Model United Nations Conference at Hamilton College, New York [October 1998], with Virtual Foundation Matching Funds
Project Donors


Keeping Toxics Out of the Samarkand Reservoir
Project Picture Result: Local citizens were able to monitor and prevent mercury and phenol seepage into the Samarkand Reservoir and River Nur.
Region: Central Asia, Kazakstan
Status: Completed - Final Report Budget: $346 Comment: Supporting citizen monitoring efforts promotes public participation and democratization at the local level where real reforms first take root.

Donors: Anonymous Donor with Virtual Foundation Matching Funds [November 1997]
Project Donors


"Green Wall" to Stop Desertification of the En Ge Bei Desert in China
Project Picture Result: To organize 20-30 Beijing students and their parents to plant trees during their summer vacation and create a "Green Wall" barrier against desertification.
Region: China
Status: Completed - Final Report Budget: $1040 Comment: Desertification at the edges of the En Ge Bei Desert, located in China's Northwest, is causing sandstorms and altering the weather of China's interior.

Donors: Upper Mohawk Valley Model United Nations Conference at Hamilton College [December 1997], and the Upper Mohawk Valley chapter of the UNA-USA, with Virtual Foundation Matching Funds
Project Donors


Trees for Life-- Grow a Tree (First Year)
Project Picture Result: This project provided funding for 140 elementary school students to grow saplings in their schoolyard, which were later planted in the countryside.
Region: China
Status: Completed - Final Report Budget: $825 Comment: This project was so successful that it has inspired the original funders to support its continuation and expansion in future years. See "Trees for Life - Grow a Tree" second and third year funded projects.

Donors: "Friends of the Fragile Earth", Church of the Epiphany, Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania [December 1997], with Virtual Foundation Matching Funds
Project Donors


Adopt Trees
Project Picture Result: The thousands of saplings that the government planted in a national park near Beijing, China were cultivated. Volunteers paid for the travel to care for the trees. Funding paid for tools.
Region: China
Status: Completed - Final Report Budget: $792
Donors: Esther Schmidt, New York City [December 1996]
Project Donors


Help the Usolye Nature Museum
Project Picture Goal: To develop a museum exhibit about Lake Baikal for public education of schoolchildren and adults in and around Usolye.
Region: Russia, Russian Far East, Siberia
Status: Funded and Ongoing Budget: $1430
Comment: Progress Report

Donors: Mike Shor, with Virtual Foundation Matching Funds [September 1997]
Project Donors


Dovainiai Peat-Bog Renaturalisation (3rd stage)
Project Picture Goal: The goal is to further restore a peat bog for the creation of wildlife habitat, with provisions for making the bog accessible to birdwatchers schoolgroups.
Region: Baltics, Central and Eastern Europe, Lithuania
Status: Funded and Ongoing Budget: $1100

Donors: Shannon Simrell, Keystone College, the US Baltic Foundation, and the Moriah Fund [February 1997]
Project Donors


Developing Environmental Policy for Amursky Region
Project Picture Result: To support the development of environmental policy and precedent for the Amursky Region of the Russian Far East.
Region: Russia, Russian Far East, Siberia
Status: Completed - Final Report Budget: $1386 Comment: This project encourages decentralization of policy making in the field of resource management. Environmental NGOs are providing their expertise to regional environmental officials, in order to protect the forests and the water of this ecologically sensitive region.

Donors: Nathan Cummings Foundation Staff Grant (December 1998); with Virtual Foundation Matching Funds
Project Donors


Promoting Alternative Energy to Prevent Deforestation in Tajikistan
Project Picture Goal: To develop and demonstrate a biogas apparatus that will process organic waste materials and provide rural residents energy, thereby reducing deforestation.
Region: Central Asia, Tajikistan
Status: Funded and Ongoing Budget: $1760
Comment: The Youth Creative Coalition of the Tajikistan Academy of Sciences are responding to conditions of disrupted gas and electricity caused by a civil war.

Donors: Gift of John Deever and Lisa Swaim, to their Bridal Party on the occasion of their wedding, October 2001, Washington DC.
Bridal Party:
Amy Deever
Mark Dilley
Darcy Galane
Frank Gordish
Hans Gorsuch
Mara Matteson
Miriam Matteson
Helen Rowe
Jeff Scott
Hector Garcia Santana
Paul Swaim
Ewan Todd
David Tracy, and
Jeanne Work.

David and Sara Deever, Ohio [March 2002]

Project Donors


Public Assessment of Drinking Water Sources in Ashgabat
Project Picture Goal: A water resource assessment of the Karanku-Gyunduvarski Reservoir will examine changes in water levels related to recent rapid development of hotels in Ashgabat (the capital of Turkmenistan). Scientists and social activists in this Turkmen NGO will prepare a report, conduct a public information campaign, and work with local and national governmental agencies to develop a realistic plan for sustainable drinking water use.
Region: Central Asia, Turkmenistan
Status: Funded and Ongoing Budget: $2904
Comment: This project could be a model for NGOs and policy makers in many other arid world regions which are also experiencing population and economic growth, and depletion of fresh water supplies.

Donors: ISAR Central Asia [May 1998]
Project Donors


Email Computer for the "Iskatel" Club
Project Picture Goal: This group is requesting a complete E-mail station for communications, including publication and distribution of their own newsletter/journal, "Tourism, Ecology, Nature, and Us."
Region: Central Asia, Tajikistan
Status: Funded and Ongoing Budget: $1078

Donors: Stuart Carroll, Massachusetts, April 2001
Project Donors


Field Research in Vilkija Region
Project Picture Result: Field studies and practical outdoor activities develop young people's feelings of responsibility toward their natural environment.
Region: Baltics, Central and Eastern Europe, Lithuania
Status: Completed - Final Report Budget: $1087 Comment: Organizers and teachers worked in cooperation with a local museum, developing programs to combine ecological and traditional Lithuanian culture studies.

Donors: ECOLOGIA's Baltic Mini-Grant Program, supported by The Moriah Fund of Washington D.C. [May 1997]
Project Donors


E-mail: A Missing Link to Vital Information for the Armenian Public Health Center
Project Picture Result: This project provided a complete e-mail station so that the Health Center can obtain outside information and consultation on the link between environmental conditions and health in Armenia.
Region: Armenia, Caucasus
Status: Completed - Final Report Budget: $1078 Comment: A Virtual Foundation Consortium partner, the Sacred Earth Network, provided valuable technical support to the Health Center, allowing it to develop its first direct and continual link to much needed foreign expertise.

Donors: Sacred Earth Network and Social Ecological Union [March 1999]
Project Donors


Connect Russian Activist Fighting Toxic Pollution to A Support Network
Project Picture Goal: Andrei Kozlovich is a legal advocate on behalf of Russian children who are ill from exposure to toxic wastes. His work requires e-mail access.
Region: Russia
Status: Funded and Ongoing Budget: $440
Comment: Andrei Kozlovich continues to gather momentum and support for his work. Read Andrei Kozlovich's Progress Report written February 2001.


Donors: Chenango Forks High School Model U.N, Binghamton, New York [December 1999] with Virtual Foundation Matching Funds; Ron Blum, Massachusetts [January 2001]; Dorothy McPherson, Pennsylvania [October 2002]; Anonymous, Virginia [August 2003]
Project Donors


Support for Environmental E-mail Center in Central Asia
Project Picture Result: To fund monthly e-mail costs for Yuri Skochilov. He distributes a bulletin on environmental issues in Tajikistan, and provides e-mail service to environmental groups who are otherwise isolated.
Region: Central Asia, Tajikistan
Status: Completed - Final Report Budget: $138 Comment: We have seen the extraordinary impact of e-mail access, which connects groups to outside information and moral suppport.

Donors: Shannon Simrell, Pennsylvania, with Virtual Foundation Matching Funds [January 1998]
Project Donors


Wells- What is the Water We Drink?
Project Picture Result: Thanks to this donation, town residents and the local government in the city of Siauliai were informed about the pollution levels of their well water.
Region: Baltics, Central and Eastern Europe, Lithuania
Status: Completed - Final Report Budget: $1090 Comment: Public education leads to constructive political involvement. See theProgress Report, as well as the Final Report.

Donors: Chenango Forks High School Model United Nations Conference, Binghamton New York [April 1997], and Ron Blum in memory of Yosef Goldring; with Virtual Foundation Matching Funds
Project Donors


Let the Voices of Greens In Central Siberia Be Heard
Project Picture Goal: To provide Valentina Dmitrieva and her Public Education Center of Sakha with e-mail costs so that this remote region’s only e-mail connection for activists continues.
Region: Russia, Russian Far East, Siberia
Status: Funded and Ongoing Budget: $495
Comment: The Center also provides information to the media, campaigns against polluting industries, lobbies for legislation, and operates environmental education programs for school children. The Final Report for an earlier grant shows all the work that they do.
Donors: Middlebury Union High School Model United Nations [May 2001]; Middlebury Model UN Conference [November 2002]; Dr. Robert DiGiulio, Vermont [March 2004]; for the Bar Mitzvah of Edward William Colow-Russell [December 2004]

Project Donors


Translating and Printing Worldwatch Paper 75
Project Picture Result: To educate the public about Soviet style reactors, this project translated, printed and distributed copies of Worldwatch Paper 75: Reassessing the Nuclear Power: The Fallout from Chernobyl, by Christopher Flavin.
Region: Central and Eastern Europe, Slovakia
Status: Completed - Final Report Budget: $935
Donors: Anonymous Donors [February 1997]
Project Donors


"Wild Cherry Tree" Sustainable Desert Restoration
Project Picture Goal: Planting selected indigenous species in a "tipping point" desert area will help to stabilize and restore a crucial ecosystem in Alashan, Inner Mongolia.
Region: China
Status: Funded and Ongoing Budget: $30000
Comment: The Herders' Cooperative is taking responsibility for the long-term success of this project. The "wild cherry" (Prunus mongolica maxim, or Mongolian Bian Tao) trees will yield an income-producing crop, valuable in traditional medicine, in three to five years. Companion plants will provide additional forage for camels and goats, as well as stabilizing the soil.

Donors: Keidanren Nature Conservation Fund (KNCF), Tokyo Japan [May 2009], Dinah Bear, Washington DC [January 2010]
Project Donors


Organic Foods to Heal Korean Infants and Children
Project Picture Goal: To heal infants and children suffering from atopic dermatitis ("topi"), a painful skin disease prevalent in South Korea
Region: Central Asia
Status: Funded and Ongoing Budget: $3619
Comment: The clinic, "Hwan-Hee's Home", treats infants and children by switching the entire family to organic foods (to avoid pesticide and herbicide residues, which are higher in South Korea than in any other nation), and providing a calm low-stress environment for daily visits.

Donor: Katherine Gould-Martin, and all donors to "Fruits and Vegetables for Pregnant Uzbekistani Women". We were unable to get the funds to the Uzbek women's group, due to the inhospitable climate for NGOs in Uzbekistan in recent years. Katherine Gould-Martin supported the allocation of the funding originally designated for the Uzbek project, to the Hwan-Hee Home in South Korea instead.

Project Donors


Tsunami Relief - Sri Lankan Community Support
Project Picture Goal: To provide direct assistance - volunteer labor and building materials - to Sri Lankan communities damaged by the December 2004 Tsunami.

Donor: The Edward and Helen Oppenheimer Foundation, Texas [June 2005]
Region:
Status: Funded and Ongoing Budget: $19800
Comment: Tr-Ac-Net is working with VSL to track the flow of money and volunteer labor into its Sri Lankan community projects, and to link these contributions to sustainable results. Working in cooperation with Sri Lankan community members, VSL provides appropriately scaled support and follows through to identify the most effective and enduring impacts.

Project Donors


Tsunami Relief - Sri Lankan Community Support
Project Picture Goal: To provide direct assistance - volunteer labor and building materials - to Sri Lankan communities damaged by the December 2004 Tsunami.

Donor:The Edward and Helen Oppenheimer Foundation, Texas [June 2005]
Region: South and Southeast Asia
Status: Funded and Ongoing Budget: $2500
Comment: Tr-Ac-Net is working with VSL to track the flow of money and volunteer labor into its Sri Lankan community projects, and to link these contributions to sustainable results. Working in cooperation with Sri Lankan community members, VSL provides appropriately scaled support and follows through to identify the most effective and enduring impacts.

Project Donors


Tsunami Relief - Sri Lankan Community Support
Project Picture Goal: To provide direct assistance - volunteer labor and building materials - to Sri Lankan communities damaged by the December 2004 Tsunami.

Donor:The Edward and Helen Oppenheimer Foundation, Texas [June 2005]
Region: South and Southeast Asia
Status: Funded and Ongoing Budget: $2500
Comment: Tr-Ac-Net is working with VSL to track the flow of money and volunteer labor into its Sri Lankan community projects, and to link these contributions to sustainable results. Working in cooperation with Sri Lankan community members, VSL provides appropriately scaled support and follows through to identify the most effective and enduring impacts.

Project Donors


Tsunami Relief - Sri Lankan Community Support
Project Picture Goal: To provide direct assistance - volunteer labor and building materials - to Sri Lankan communities damaged by the December 2004 Tsunami.

Donor:The Edward and Helen Oppenheimer Foundation, Texas [June 2005]
Region: South and Southeast Asia
Status: Funded and Ongoing Budget: $2500
Comment: Tr-Ac-Net is working with VSL to track the flow of money and volunteer labor into its Sri Lankan community projects, and to link these contributions to sustainable results. Working in cooperation with Sri Lankan community members, VSL provides appropriately scaled support and follows through to identify the most effective and enduring impacts.

Project Donors


China - Vermont Summer Exchange Program 2005
Project Picture Goal: High school students from Guangdong (southern China) and Vermont work cooperatively to explore natural resource management and develop environmental policies
Region: China
Status: Funded and Ongoing Budget: $18000
Comment: Green Across the Pacific's summer exchange programs alternate between southern China and Vermont. Teenagers experience the cultural enrichment of an immersion program, with an environmental policy and leadership focus.

Donors: Various individuals and foundations
Project Donors


Chinese Environmental Leader Travels to U.S.
Project Picture Result: To enable Wang Yongchen, a dynamic environmental leader, to travel to the United States to participate in an international peace conference in June 2005, and to inform American audiences about her work.
Region: China
Status: Completed - Final Report Budget: $1877 Comment: Wang Yongchen is an award-winning journalist and public speaker. For over a decade she has traveled around China documenting environmental damage and remediation efforts. She has won numerous cash awards, which she donates to Chinese environmental organizations. This is a wonderful opportunity for her to bring her message of hope and conviction to the United States.

Donors: The Olive Branch Fund through the Schwab Fund for Charitable Giving [California], May 2005
Project Donors


Dukha Health Project, Mongolia 2007
Project Picture Result: To create a strategic plan for Dukha health care to be shared with local and national health workers in Mongolia, continue to create a Dukha Health Data Base, provide vitamins and research natural sustainable sources of vitamins.
Region: Central Asia, Mongolia
Status: Completed - Final Report Budget: $16147 Comment: In 2006, the project interviewed 75% of the Dukha families about their health needs. In 2007, the project finished the data base and has begun to advocate with the local and national health workers for a plan for adequate care. The project also supplied a solar panel, storage battery and solar lamp to the local elementary school, in addition to medical supplies to the Dukhas.



Donors: The Shelley and Donald Rubin Foundation, New York [May 2007]; The Mongolian American Cultural Association [June 2007]; numerous individual donors

Project Donors


Green SOS Small Grant Fund, 2006
Project Picture Goal: Through an annual student-run grant competition, to support projects initiated by Chinese university student groups throughout southwest China
Region: China
Status: Funded and Ongoing Budget: $3300
Comment: The Green SOS organization has worked for four years to encourage student environmental groups throughout their region of China. This project gives students - the future leaders of China - valuable experience in working with communities and local government agencies, and carrying out their ideas from start to finish.

Donors:: Katherine Gould-Martin, New York State [February, April,June 2005]; The Olive Branch Fund at the Schwab Fund for Charitable Giving, California [July 2005]; For the wedding of Chris Langer and Pearl Liao Hong, New York State [September 2005]; Katherine Gould-Martin [October 2005; April 2006]

Project Donors


Gobi Women's Song - Documentary Film, Mongolian Nomadic Women
Project Picture Result: An educational film about nomadic women's health and lifestyle is documenting a way of life that is disappearing as modern life impinges and provides nomads with an alternative to their traditional dependence on the environment.
Region: Central Asia, Mongolia
Status: Completed - Final Report Budget: $59257 Comment: This 73 minute film is being made available to Mongolians and to others who need to know about the sustainable life of one of the earth’s most remarkable people. Screenings can be arranged by contacting Sas Carey of Nomadicare.

Donors: Anonymous, Vermont [2005 & 2006]; Vermont Arts Council [February 2005]; Anonymous, New York State [May 2005]; National Endowment for the Arts; Mongolian American Cultural Association; Sustainable Future Fund of the Vermont Community Foundation [March 2006]
Project Donors


Vitamins for Reindeer Herders 2004 - 2006
Project Picture Result: To provide Dukha (Reindeer Herders) in Northern Mongolia with basic vitamins which they do not find in their environment, to promote better health and thus ability to sustain their threatened lifestyle.
Region: Central Asia, Mongolia
Status: Completed - Final Report Budget: $8667 Comment: Damage to gums, loss of teeth, and impaired vision are some of the signs of vitamin deficiency experienced by the Dukha; vitamins A and C will be of great help to them.



Donors: Mongolian-American Cultural Association Children's Aid and Development Fund, New Jersey [June 2004]; Totem Project of Cultural Survival, Massachusetts [June 2004]; Anonymous [July 2004; The Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation, New York [August 2006]

Project Donors


Labs and Supplies for Rural Mongolian Hospitals
Project Picture Goal: This is an important step toward improving public health care for rural people.
Region: Central Asia, Mongolia
Status: Funded and Ongoing Budget: $5395
Comment: Supplies and training are as important as the original lab equipment, in order to maintain services.

Donors: Anonymous (various) [June & July, 2004]
Project Donors


Green SOS Small Grant Fund, 2004
Project Picture Result: To provide opportunities to student environmental groups in the western interior provinces of China, by enabling them to administer and to apply for grants for their projects
Region: China
Status: Completed - Final Report Budget: $3300 Comment: Green SOS has built a dynamic network of student university groups by providing grant opportunities and by creating a transparent, decentralized and accessible process.
See their Progress Report for 2003 for examples.



Donors: Katherine Gould-Martin, New York State [August 2003; March 2004; April 2004]; Asia Foundation [April 2004]

Project Donors


Weekend Environmental Work Camp Projects
Project Picture Result: to involve young people and community members in local environmental activities, during a two-day camp
Region: Baltics, Central and Eastern Europe, Lithuania
Status: Completed - Final Report Budget: $688 Comment: This group was able to carry out a much more ambitious project schedule than they had originally planned, thanks to Virtual Foundation support and the local volunteer efforts that it further encouraged. See the Final Report for information.

Donors: The Olive Branch Fund at the Schwab Fund for Charitable Giving, California [April 2005]
Project Donors


Children's Ward for Busaawa-Mmanze Health Unit
Project Picture Goal: to improve community health services for children in this region of Uganda
Region: Africa
Status: Funded and Ongoing Budget: $1650
Comment: Construction of a children's ward will benefit the entire community. Children will receive a wider range of health services. The time and money that families currently spent to find hospital space for children at far away Health Units will be used for activities such as farming and taking children to school.

Donors: The James R. Greenbaum, Jr. Family Foundation, Utah [January 2005]
Project Donors


Improve Mother and Child Health in Uganda
Project Picture Goal: to improve access to medical treatment for expectant and child-bearing mothers; to increase community public health services
Donors: Upper Mohawk Valley Model UN Conference at Hamilton College [December 2003 and 2004]; Theresa McGallicher, Virginia [November 2004]; Christmas Gift to the Staff at Bard Hall, New York, from Apartment 82 [December 2004]
Region: Africa
Status: Funded and Ongoing Budget: $1850
Comment: The donation of $1074 was wire-transferred to the Mmanze Center in early 2004, so that they could start on the project, combining these funds and their local resources.
December 2004: Thanks to several generous donors who selected this project, we received enough additional support for this project in late 2004 to enable it to be fully funded, including finishing the roof (the last step). The Progress Report, January 2005 includes photographs of the work so far.

Project Donors


Medical Staff House for Ugandan Community
Project Picture Goal: to improve health and medical services provided by Busaaawa-Mmanze Health Centre
Region: Africa
Status: Funded and Ongoing Budget: $1650
Comment: With a Staff House, the medical staff could be available 24 hours a day; this would greatly improve public access to health and emergency services

Donors: The James R. Greenbaum, Jr. Family Foundation, Utah [January 2005]
Project Donors


Ark Newsletter (Fengzhou Newsletter)
Project Picture Goal: To support the creation of a newspaper on ecological issues
Region: China
Status: Funded and Ongoing Budget: $500
Comment: Students at South West Forestry School in Kunming, Yunnan Province have recently formed an environmental group. The creation and distribution of a newspaper on local ecological issues was their own idea.

Donors: Virtual Foundation Regional Grantmaking Program - Ford Foundation funding through ECOLOGIA [October 2001]
Project Donors


Green SOS Small Grant Fund, 2003
Project Picture Result: to support Chinese university student environmental activities in the less developed western interior provinces, as a student group organizes and carry out a small grant competition for environmental projects
Region: China
Status: Completed - Final Report Budget: $3300 Comment: The Green SOS Council posts project proposals on their Green SOS website. Their decision-making process is visible to the public, as is the Virtual Foundation's. In their start-up year (see Green SOS Small Grant Fund 2002), they modeled openness and fairness in their own decision-making, and attracted participants from a variety of universities in different provinces.

Donors: Rona Florio, Alaska [September 2002]; Rachel Golden, Illinois [October 2002]; Shannon Simrell, Vermont [October 2002]; Ellanore McKenna, Arizona [October 2002]; Tom Walski, Pennsylvania [October 2002]; Jean and David Rosenberg, Vermont [October 2002]; Barbara and John Chaffee, New York State [December 2002]; Trace Foundation
Project Donors


Youth EcoCenter of Dushanbe Seeks E-Mail Support
Project Picture Goal: Yuri Skochilov has worked since 1995 to provide environmental groups in Tajikistan with information and e-mail access. His organization needs support for its monthly e-mail charges.
Region: Central Asia, Tajikistan
Status: Funded and Ongoing Budget: $330
Comment: The Report for an earlier communications grant details the changing situation and continued relevance of the Youth EcoCenter's work.


Donors: Shannon Simrell, with Virtual Foundation matching funds [January 1998]; Theresa McGallicher, Virginia [October 2004]
Project Donors


Leadership Growth for Green SOS Council
Project Picture Result: To encourage Chinese student initiatives by developing young people's capacity to run a small grants program
Region: China
Status: Completed - Final Report Budget: $1760
Donors: Ford Foundation, through Virtual Foundation's Regional Grant-Making Program [July 2002]
Project Donors


Green SOS Small Grant Fund - 2002
Project Picture Goal: To support Chinese university student organizations as they develop and carry out environmental improvement projects on their campuses or in their communities. The "Mid-Term Reports" [July 8, 2002; April 19, 2002] show the evolution of this project.
Region: China
Status: Funded and Ongoing Budget: $3000

Donors: Ford Foundation [March 2002], through the Virtual Foundation's Regional Grantmaking Program.
Project Donors


Village Community and Nature Tourism in Estonia
Project Picture Result: to develop nature tourism, through such community activities as restoring meadows and building a camp by the sea
Region: Baltics, Central and Eastern Europe, Estonia
Status: Completed - Final Report Budget: $528
Donors: Ecologia Eesti, Tallinn Estonia [July 2002]
Project Donors


Give Injured Waterfowl Another Chance to Live
Project Picture Result: To create better conditions for injured waterfowl which live in captivity, designing a captive living environment that is closer to the natural environment that waterfowl are accustomed to.
Region: Balkans, Bulgaria, Central and Eastern Europe
Status: Completed - Final Report Budget: $500 Comment: This project was designed by a 16-year old volunteer at the nature center.

Donors: Anonymous [September 2004]
Project Donors


Distributing Information About Osteoporosis
Project Picture Result: To increase the level of knowledge about osteoporosis among nurses, to reduce the harm of the disease among potential patients
Region: Baltics, Central and Eastern Europe, Lithuania
Status: Completed - Final Report Budget: $550 Comment: This outreach project has provided specific information to an important group of care-givers, who in turn are imparting it to their patients. In response to the needs that emerged, the project successfully expanded beyond its original goals.

Donors: The Family of Dr. Anthony R. Kritkausky, in his memory [March 2002]
Project Donors


Musical Therapy for the Mentally Ill
Project Picture Result: To apply musical therapy for people with mental illnesses, in order to help them overcome their problems.
Region: Baltics, Central and Eastern Europe, Lithuania
Status: Completed - Final Report Budget: $660
Donors: ECOLOGIA's Baltic Mini-Grant Program [January 2003]
Project Donors


UN Chernobyl Expert Travels to US
Project Picture Result: To share and discuss the policy implications of the recent United Nations report, The Human Consequences of the Chernobyl Nuclear Accident . Hundreds of communities and millions of people in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine are involved.
Region: Belarus, Russia, Ukraine
Status: Completed - Final Report Budget: $2755 Comment: Professor Cherp participated as the UN's ecological expert in the fact-finding commission which traveled through the affected areas in Summer 2001, and released its controversial report in February 2002.

Donors: Middlebury College and ECOLOGIA - Co-Sponsors; matching funds provided by Trust for Mutual Understanding [March 2002]
Project Donors


Nesting Platforms for Storks in Lithuania
Project Picture Result: To build stork nesting platforms in Taurage region in order to save the population of White Storks in Lithuania.
Region: Baltics, Central and Eastern Europe, Lithuania
Status: Completed - Final Report Budget: $440
Donors: ECOLOGIA's Baltic Mini-Grant Program [January 2003]
Project Donors


Launching the Virtual Foundation Japan
Project Picture Result: To support the start-up costs of the Virtual Foundation Japan
Region:
Status: Completed - Final Report Budget: $2000 Comment: This $2000 grant led to the creation of the Virtual Foundation Japan organization and website, including web translation into Japanese. The VF Japan funded several projects in Nepal, and was affiliated with Virtual Foundation until 2002. View its current incarnation at: http://www.sbpark.com/

Donors: ECOLOGIA Board of Directors, Board Meeting August 27, 1997
Project Donors


White Stork Protection in Czech Republic
Project Picture Goal: To continue protecting White Storks in Czech Republic. Funding is needed to build new platforms, repair nests and implement bird monitoring this year.
Region: Central and Eastern Europe, Czech Republic
Status: Funded and Ongoing Budget: $550
Comment: This group has a strong record of combining professional expertise with community support to protect this beloved species.

Donors: Dot and Bill McPherson, Pennsylvania [February 2002]; In Memory of the mother of Helena Gibbs [December 2003], A Gift for Dylan and Keila Davis-Bloom, Washington State [March 2005]; A Gift for Johanna Westeson, Sweden [April 2005]; A Gift for Jane Andromache Brien, Bard College [May 2005]; A Gift for Marka Gustavsson, Colorado String Quartet, Bard College [May 2005]; H. Juergen Hess, Illinois [July 2005]
Project Donors


Reducing Children's Exposure to Chernobyl Radiation
Project Picture Goal: to reduce exposure to radiation, by training the local population to monitor their exposure and to act on this information
Region: Belarus, Central and Eastern Europe
Status: Funded and Ongoing Budget: $1089
Comment: A United Nations report, "The Human Consequences of the Chernobyl Nuclear Accident - A Strategy for Recovery" calls for international attention and action to empower people living in the affected communities.


Donors: Upper Mohawk Valley Model United Nations Conference at Hamilton College, New York State [February 2003, December 2005]
Project Donors


Community Gardens and Sustainable Agriculture in Parque Nacional Pico Pijol
Project Picture Goal: to improve nutrition and to encourage sustainable agriculture. This project coordinates members of different sectors of Honduran village societies, to develop long-term solutions to local problems.
Region: Central America, Honduras, Latin America
Status: Funded and Ongoing Budget: $2598
Comment: This replaces two previous proposals: "Seeds of Hope: Gardens for Single Mothers" and "Community Nursery to Heal Hurricane Scars". The Progress Report [July 2002] summarizes initial achievements.

Donors: First Parish Church of Lincoln, Massachusetts [September 2001], with Virtual Foundation matching funds.
Project Donors


Trees for Life - Grow a Tree (Fourth Project)
Project Picture Goal: To continue this education and reforestation project, in response to increasing interest from new schools in the Beijing and Xinjiang areas.
Region: China
Status: Funded and Ongoing Budget: $1430
Comment: Previous activities of "Trees for Life" involved hundreds of schoolchildren in planting and caring for their own trees. See the "Funded Projects" section for reports and photographs.


Donors: Ron Blum, Massachusetts [September 2002]; Lydia Thompson and the 6th floor MADEP, Massachusetts [October 2002]; Rachael Sharon for the Fifth Anniversary (wood) of Andrew and Ria Sharon, Missouri [October 2002];Esther Schmidt, New Jersey [October 2002]; Trace Foundation
Project Donors


Black Necked Cranes
Project Picture Goal: To support the efforts of The Volunteers' Association for Black-Necked Cranes Protection in Zhaotong Prefecture of China to preserve this endangered species and its habitat
Region: China
Status: Funded and Ongoing Budget: $1200
Comment: In October 2001, Virtual Foundation staff members traveled with Sun De-hui to the cranes' migratory habitat in Da Shan Bao, Yunnan Province. We met personally with local officials, farmers and village residents in this beautiful but impoverished region. Sun De-hui has made impressive progress in gathering local support for these birds; now international action and support would greatly help.


Donors: Rachel Golden, Illinois [October 2002], Alene Case, Pennsylvania, in memory of her parents, Phil and Lola Nordstrom [October 2002]; Diane and Dave Schnaars, Pennsylvania [October 2002]; Trace Foundation; Sam Evans, Washington State [November 2002]
Project Donors


Basketball for Wheelchair Participants
Project Picture Result: To build strength, endurance and self-confidence, and reduce motion disorders among people newly disabled with spinal injuries
Region: Baltics, Central and Eastern Europe, Lithuania
Status: Completed - Final Report Budget: $605 Comment: Basketball is a very popular and respected sport in Lithuania. The opportunity to participate in wheelchair basketball gives hope and social contacts to the participants, as well as valuable exercise.

Donors: Anonymous, September 2001
Project Donors


2001 Survey on Student Environmental Groups in China
Project Picture Result: To document the concerns and activities of university groups concerned about environmental issues, and to encourage environmental education in Chinese universities
Region: China
Status: Completed - Final Report Budget: $990 Comment: See the Progress Report, July 2001.

Donors: Ford Foundation, April 2001
Project Donors


Bird Banding by Volunteers
Project Picture Goal: To organize and train volunteers to participate in bird-banding activities in different regions of China; to raise public awareness of the value of ecosystems used by migrating birds
Region: China
Status: Funded and Ongoing Budget: $1139
Comment: This would be the first-ever volunteer group to participate in the Chinese national bird-banding activities. Support for their costs for equipment and reference materials will enable them to educate themselves and contribute to this program.

Donors: Peter Lynch, Vermont [October 2002]; Tom Moran, Vermont [October 2002]; Trace Foundation; Shelley and David Hamel, Aleutian Islands, Alaska [December 2002]; For wedding of Tsu-Yu Tsao and Lisa Yuen [January 2005]; For Liu Feng and Chris Winham; For Yoko Matsuda in memory of the life of Tomo Matsuda [Japan]; For Stellah red Trestle Marienthal-LeGendre; For Owen Christopher Stier; For Rafael Sylvan Kunreuther Karpowitz - Bard College, New York State [September 2005]; With Thanks to Jianjun Fang, Bard College [March 2006]; For Rosalind Seneca, New Jersey [August 2006]; In Memory of Paul and Josephine Lee [October 2006]; In Memory of Eleanor Winograd Judd; In Memory of Eunice Smith Whittlesey [February 2007]
Project Donors


Libraries and Eco-Education in Central Asia
Project Picture Result: 40 members of the ecoclub, and 2000 schoolchildren of the Bishkek school "N77" will participate in ecological education activities such as nature studies and planting trees around their school. A public-access library on environmental issues will be established at the school. In addition, 4 regional libraries will be given $100 support grants for new books.
Region: Central Asia, Kyrgyzstan
Status: Completed - Final Report Budget: $990 Comment: These projects will increase access to knowledge and will strengthen environmental activities at several sites in Kyrgystan and Tajikistan.

Donors: Manlius Pebble Hill Model United Nations Conference, DeWitt, New York [October 1999] with Virtual Foundation Matching Fundds
Project Donors


Women's Health: The Power of the Printed Word
Project Picture Result: To create and disseminate quality informational materials for Lithuanian women regarding domestic violence, alcoholism, depression, breast cancer and the Women's Center services.
Region: Baltics, Central and Eastern Europe, Lithuania
Status: Completed - Final Report Budget: $1650 Comment: Your donation will enable women to receive quality health care and social services information.

Donors: Jan and Nick Vasilius, Arizona [December 2002]
Project Donors


Storks in Focus
Project Picture Result: To build 3 new platforms, repair 2 nests, and monitor/aid around 200 nests in South Bohemia, North Bohemia (Czech Republic) and part of Slovakia in the year 2000.
Region: Central and Eastern Europe, Czech Republic
Status: Completed - Final Report Budget: $330 Comment: Storks are severely threatened as a result of human activities within their habitat. By protecting their nests, this project contributed to their long-term survival.

Donors: Family Gift made by Dorothy and Bill McPherson, Nicholson, Pennsylvania (see photo), [October 2000] on behalf of:
Margaret & Arthur Liolin, East Milton, Massachusetts;
Jackie & Ted Lawrence, Montclair, New Jersey;
Lory & Bill Wolf, Butler, New Jersey;
Glenn & Debi DeSantis, Lake Hopatcong, New Jersey;
Craig & Linda DeSantis, Flanders, New Jersey;
Tracie & Lee DeSantis, Butler, New Jersey;
Bruce & Joyce McPherson, Ringwood, New Jersey.

Project Donors


Save the Beaver!
Project Picture Result: To protect Elbe River beaver populations by halting the construction of a dam.
Region: Central and Eastern Europe, Czech Republic
Status: Completed - Final Report Budget: $880 Comment: Public participation in the siting and planning of development projects helps to balance the interests of humans, animals, and the ecosystem.

Donors: Upper Mohawk Valley Model United Nations at Hamilton College, New York State [February 2003]
Project Donors


Siberian Ecologist Seeks Exchange Opportunity
Project Picture Result: Vladimir M. Protasov, of Taimyr (northern Siberia), seeks a travel grant to enable him to work with Americans on issues related to the North Siberian ecology, economy and indigenous peoples.
Region: Russia, Russian Far East, Siberia
Status: Completed - Final Report Budget: $2239 Comment: M. Protasov lives in a very isolated region. Your donation will allow him to communicate face-to-face with American colleagues interested in his conservation projects.

Donors: American Association for the Support of Ecological Initiatives (AASEI), Middletown, Connecticut,and private donors; with matching funds from the Trust for Mutual Understanding. [January - February 2001]
Project Donors


Hydroponics to Give Delinquent Youths a Second Chance
Project Picture Goal: To provide juvenile delinquents in custody with work skills (maintaining hydroponic gardens; growing and marketing produce)
Region: Central America, Latin America, Nicaragua
Status: Funded and Ongoing Budget: $1100
Comment: Your donation will help troubled youths to gain experience and work habits that will prepare them to start a new life

Donors: Middlebury Model UN Conference [April 6, 2002]; Dudley Foundation, Washington State
Project Donors


Women Sewing for a Better Future in Nicaragua
Project Picture Result: To provide female heads of households with technical skills in dressmaking to facilitate their integration into the workforce and to improve their standard of living.
Region: Central America, Latin America, Nicaragua
Status: Completed - Final Report Budget: $5742 Comment: Fundacion Nicaragua Nuestra has successfully gathered the equipment to carry out the sewing courses. Your donation will cover the cost of hiring teachers and of lighting the workrooms. .
Progress Report, February 2002

Donors: First Parish Church of Lincoln (Massachusetts), and The Dudley Foundation (Washington State) [August 2001]
Project Donors


Artisans to Generate Sustainable Income from Forest Products
Project Picture Goal: To increase the quality of the crafts and the organizational skills of 60 artisans, generating a higher income for their families.
Region: Central America, Latin America, Nicaragua
Status: Funded and Ongoing Budget: $1100
Comment: The pine needles collected by artisans for their crafts are not harmful to the local forests. They come from trees already on the ground and from the branches of trees cut for a local wood mill. See the Progress Report [July 2002] for more information.

Donors: First Parish Church of Lincoln (Massachusetts); The Dudley Foundation (Washington State) [September 2001]
Project Donors


Fruits and Vegetables for Pregnant Uzbekistani Women
Project Picture Goal: To improve the health of pregnant women by building a greenhouse to grow fresh fruits and vegetables.
Region: Central Asia, Uzbekistan
Status: Funded and Ongoing Budget: $3619
Comment: This project will improve the health of pregnant women and their babies in Uzbekistan, by growing fresh fruits and vegetables and distributing them to the most needy pregnant women during the cold season.


Donors: Andrew Yim, Connecticut [January 2002]; Martin - Lee Thanksgiving [November 2002]; Gift Certificate [December 2002]; Katherine Gould-Martin, New York State [March 2004]; In remembrance of Lorna Trowbridge [April 2004]; In celebration of the birthday of Luis Shein [April 2004]; For the marriage of Cecilia Helen Maple and Dwane Decker [May 2004]; Nicholas and Luise Stauss-Blechman, New York State [June 2004]; Katherine Gould-Martin [July 2004]; In honor of the marriage of Danielle Dignan and Dan Zuiches [August 2004]; Happy Birthday to Eunice Whittelsey [September 2004]; Katherine Gould-Martin [October 2004]; Vivienne Grace Airhart; Angelique Ahmad [October 2004];For Katherine Gould-Martin, Happy Birthday [December 2004]; A Christmas donation for Sasha Clyburn, from Michael Clyburn, Washington State [December 2004]; For Ian Skye Ciancanelli, Happy Arrival in Good Health, from Katherine and Bob Martin [December 2004]; Merry Christmas to Betsy Barlow Rogers and Ted Rogers from Katherine and Bob Martin [December 2004]; Happy Birthday to Katherine Gould-Martin from Jeremy Martin and Doris Lee[December 2004]
Project Donors


Traditional Sweets and Dairies: Women as Microentrepreneurs
Project Picture Result: To assist Uzbek women to organize small food processing micro-businesses.
Region: Central Asia, Uzbekistan
Status: Completed - Final Report Budget: $1089 Comment: A group of 60 women is learning how to organize and run their own small businesses, preparing and selling traditional food products. This donation is making a real difference in a region where women lack access to training and credit.

Donors: Upper Mohawk Valley Model United Nations at Hamilton College, New York State, [December 2000], with Virtual Foundation Matching Funds
Project Donors


Lorena Stoves to Protect Lungs and Forests
Project Picture Result: To build 100 Lorena wood-burning stoves in the community of Champigny.
Region: Central America, Latin America, Nicaragua
Status: Completed - Final Report Budget: $1710 Comment: Lorena stoves have various advantages over traditional stoves. They allow the smoke from burning wood to get out of the house, and therefore reduce the risks of lung diseases. Their design also makes them more fuel-efficient; they use half as much wood as traditional cookstoves.

Donors: Sam Johnson, Massachusetts (in photo); Mr. and Mrs. Ned Link; Patricia Link; Catherine Pognat,Washington DC; Jean-Francois Labarre, Quebec; Catherine Gauthier, Quebec; ENSR Corporation, Massachusetts; The Dudley Foundation, Washington State [November 2000 - March 2001]
Project Donors


Potpourri: Flowers and Employment for Single Mothers
Project Picture Result: To provide work and a source of income for single mothers through the creation of a potpourri micro-business.
Region: Central America, Honduras, Latin America
Status: Completed - Final Report Budget: $957 Comment: Part of the profits will be used to help poor rural families to pay for medical exams, medicines and transportation to the hospital for their children when ill.
Progress Report, June 2001

Donors: The First Parish in Lincoln, MA, Paula Johnson, with Virtual Foundation Matching Funds [August 2000]
Project Donors


Communities to Protect a Cloud Forest
Project Picture Goal: To restore damaged ecosystems and protect river areas in a national park.
Region: Central America, Honduras, Latin America
Status: Funded and Ongoing Budget: $770
Comment: Your donation will allow local communities to grow and plant 50 000 trees, and to learn how to protect the neighboring national park. A local environmental organization and local communities will cover most of the cost of this project.

Donors: Upper Mohawk Valley Model United Nations Conference at Hamilton College, New York State, December 2000
Project Donors


A Land of Nature and Adventure
Project Picture Goal: To raise local interest in and accessibility to three main protected areas in Honduras.
Region: Central America, Honduras, Latin America
Status: Partially Funded Budget: $1149 Collected: $766 Needs: $383
Comment: Each $383 donation supports a project to protect one biodiversity-rich ecosystem.



Donors: October 2001: For complete work on one protected area:
Dot and Bill McPherson and their family:
Arthur & Margaret Liolin,
Lori & Bill Wolf,
Glenn & Debi DeSantis,
Craig & Linda DeSantis,
Lee & Tracie DeSantis,
Evans Liolin,
Elena & Dan Carroll,
Emily Liolin,
Jackie & Ted Lawrence,
Bruce & Joyce McPherson.

August 2005: For complete work on a second protected area, gifts for

  • Ginny Bell, New Mexico
  • Dave Moss and Sue LaRocca, New York
  • Denise and Dan Cruz, New Jersey
  • Luis and Miriam Shein, California
  • Michael Siepman and Anna Gardiner, California

Project Donors


10 000 Trees to Reduce Risk of Flooding
Project Picture Result: To reduce the risk of flooding by supporting the work of the Quebrada Grande community, who will plant and take care of 10 000 trees to protect its watershed.
Region: Central America, Latin America, Nicaragua
Status: Completed - Final Report Budget: $1100 Comment: The strength of this project lies in the extensive involvement of the community, who participates in the design as well as the execution of the tree planting. Although it will be executed by one community, the project will benefit all downstream communities by reducing risks of flooding.

Donors: Chenango Forks High School Model United Nations Conference, Binghamton, New York [April 2000], with Virtual Foundation Matching Funds
Project Donors

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