Funding-Sustainable Community Innovation Grant Opportunities; October 3, 2011

 GRIFFIN, Georgia –The Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education (SARE) Sustainable Community Innovation Grant program is open to a variety of innovative projects that successfully link sustainable agriculture with sustainable community activities to increase and support farms, businesses, families and communities.

The Calls for Proposals for the 2011 Sustainable Community Innovation Grants are now open. Project maximums are $10,000 for up to two years of activities that are intended to increase knowledge, build capacity and make connections between farms and rural communities to the benefit of people who live in those communities.

Grant proposal deadline is 11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, October 3, 2011. Announcement of awarded grants will take place in December. Log on to http://www.southernsare.org/Grants/Apply-for-a-Grant to download the current Calls for Proposal. The Calls for Proposal includes application information, program priorities, use of funds, proposal submission instructions, and contact information. Be sure to carefully follow the information in the Calls for Proposal when submitting your grant.

Priority areas for this year’s Sustainable Community Innovation Grants program include such topics as strategic planning efforts, food assistance and security activities, local leadership development, and farmer/consumer linkages.  To learn more about projects that were funded in 2010, log on to http://www.southernsare.org/News-and-Media/Press-Releases/Sustainable-Community-Innovation-Grants-Awarded.

SARE is a competitive grants program funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to promote research and education about sustainable agriculture.  Southern SARE is administered by a host consortium consisting of the University of Georgia, Fort Valley State University and the Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture in Oklahoma.

For more information on Southern SARE, log on to http://www.southernsare.org, follow us on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/southernsare, or Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/southsare.