Glenview Park District announces first Beck Grant recipients
The Glenview Park District has announced the recipients of the first Judy Beck Grant program. The grant was established to honor the 32-year Glenview Park Board commissioner and her environmental legacy.
The Judy Beck Grant awards annual grants to nonprofit groups or individuals focusing on conservation, sustainability, community engagement or youth development.
Initially announced as a $5,000 grant, the first six recipients received a total of approximately $13,700. They are:
• Monarchs in the Rough at Glenview Park Golf Club: The goal of this is to grow the monarch butterfly population in the community. The project will create multiple butterfly habitats on the golf course, using existing milkweed areas as small ecosystems.
• Emma Chin, composting awareness campaign: Ms. Chin created a flowchart on composting as part of her Girl Scouts Silver Award project. She wants to generate awareness about the benefits of composting by distributing copies of her flowchart to people to show them ways to compost, from their backyard to using a local composting company.
• Historic Wagner Farm Adventure Area Sensory Gardens: Student farmers who are part of the "Be@the Farm" partnership program between Wagner Farm and the Northern Suburban Special Education District will plan, plant and maintain therapeutic planters in the new Wagner Farm playscape adventure area. The planters, one designed specifically for wheelchair access, will allow visitors to interact with nature using their senses.
• Lexi Turner, composting program at Marie Turner Middle School: This student's project includes hiring a composting company to pick up food scraps from students and properly break them down. In partnership with the Roots and Shoots Club at the Wilmette school, she wants to do more fundraising and awareness about the importance of composting. She's developed an informational video and would like to place signs on composting around the school.
• Park Center Preschool, STEAM classroom furniture: As part of this new Glenview preschool for 3- and 4-year-olds, a science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics (STEAM) component has been added to the curriculum. The grant will be used to purchase more furniture to encourage children's curiosity in these areas. Possibilities include a light table, live habitats and an interactive STEAM library.
• The Grove Food Forest: This project's goal is to create a fully functioning food forest where visitors can learn about ecological diversity. (A food forest is a system of edible plants grown together to create a low-maintenance, self-sustaining habitat.) Food harvested from the forest will be donated to food pantries, used for programs or sold at a farmers market.
According to the Beck Family Foundation, it received close to 20 applications with innovative project ideas.