Glenview Park District announces 2022 Judy Beck Grant recipients

The Glenview Park District has awarded a total of $12,250 to six recipients of the second Judy Beck Grant program.

Announced in October 2020 in memory of the former 32-year park board commissioner, the Judy Beck Grants are available to nonprofit groups or individuals with projects focusing on conservation, sustainability, community engagement or youth development, the park district stated.

Thirteen applications were submitted for the 2022 grants. Those six selected to receive grants were:

• Tree-Plenish in the Glenview Community, an effort by Glenbrook South High School's Planet Green Environmental Club. After learning the Tree-Plenish curriculum regarding native species that are appropriate for the area, students will present an event with the goal of planting 500 trees - a figure designed to offset the school's paper usage;

• Prairie Fest, a community event this summer at the Kent Fuller Air Station Prairie that will focus on sustainability and conservation;

• Prairie grass restoration and monarch butterfly way station garden at Willowbrook and Wescott schools. The grant goes to maintaining the prairie grasses and monarch habitat there, as students will help plant and visit the garden as part of the schools' life science and conservation studies;

• Community sewing bee, a volunteer program at The Grove in Glenview that teaches community members about sewing history and technique by making historically accurate clothing;

• "Dig it! The Secrets of Soil," a five-year visiting exhibit, courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution, that focuses on soil education and conserving natural resources through education and hands-on experiments;

• Restoration kids' program and volunteer program enhancements. Again at The Grove, this is a volunteer program to get children involved in restoration projects and to learn about biodiversity and surveying.

The Beck, Strauss and Hurvis families supported the 2022 grant cycle. In February, the Glenview village board presented the families and the Glenview Park District with a 2022 Environmental Sustainability Award in leadership for their efforts to support programs that benefit the environment and conservation.

The families have more than doubled their support of the Judy Beck Grant program, which totaled $5,000 to recipients when it was established.