Organizations will be asked to enter a grant agreement with a description of their organization, the scope and objective of their project or program, and the anticipated environmental impacts/benefits of the project or program to the City of Miami Beach. Recipients are required to be in good standing with the City of Miami Beach.
The organizations listed below have presented proposals that will produce measurable results and have been selected through a competitive process to be awarded a grant. The outcome of each program(s) will be presented via a Letter to Commission (LTC) at the conclusion of grant cycle.
Pelican Harbor Seabird Station | $25,000.00
Pelican Harbor Seabird Station (PHSS) has served as the only full-service native wildlife hospital within Miami-Dade County for the past 40 years. In 2019, 15% of injured or orphaned native birds and wildlife were rescued from Miami Beach. This represented 222 patients from the City of Miami Beach of the 1,426 treated. The PHSS grant program will include continuing to provide professional care and rapid response to approximately hundreds of injured native wildlife within Miami Beach; increasing environmental stewardship through education tabling at six (6) City of Miami Beach events; conducting four (4) school presentations to educate youth on wildlife and environmental issues; providing two (3) operation rescue trainings to expand their network of responders; and organize special public bird releases to showcase the city’s collaborative efforts.
Debris Free Oceans | $21,500.00
Debris Free Oceans (DFO) is a volunteer-run organization that inspires local communities to eradicate marine debris from beaches, reefs, and oceans. DFO is also the city’s lead partner in the #PlasticFreeMB businesses certification program. Their grant will include developing a user-friendly webpage for their vendor product guide, which provides businesses with an easy way to access sustainable plastic-free alternatives and creating a platform for businesses to communicate and share their experiences and purchasing needs. Other deliverables include providing sustainability consultation to Miami Beach businesses, engaging Miami Beach students about plastic pollution, researching and sharing alternatives to plastic products, and promoting top tier #PlasticFreeMB businesses through social media. Additionally, DFO will create a cost-benefit “calculator” on their website for businesses to assess cost and landfill savings from switching to reusables/compostables from single-use plastics.
North Beach Elementary | $11,000.00
The North Beach Elementary Youth Engagement in Environmental Stewardship Project will engage elementary school students in activities that build a basis of environmental consciousness among students, staff, faculty and their families. This initiative will provide much needed restoration to the school’s garden area by adding in organic garden beds with vegetables and herbs, sheds, gardening tools, benches, a shade umbrella and composting bins. Students will participate in every step of the process — helping with the installation and maintenance of the new materials as well as by watering, weeding and harvesting. Teachers will use the garden to teach kinesthetically and engage the senses; instead of showing a picture of a root system, teachers can utilize the garden to show their students a root system they can see and touch while also learning about the plant lifecycles (seed to compost) and pollination.
Miami Beach Botanical Garden | $10,000.00
The Miami Beach Botanical Garden (MBBG) hosts a diverse array of butterflies, moths and bees. Through this grant, MBBG will create an official apiary - bee hives in boxes. They will work with professional bee keepers of South Florida Beekeeping Association to set up, register with the state and maintain the hives in a safe, user friendly environment. MBBG staff will partake in certified bee keeping class to learn and spread the knowledge of the importance of bees in all ecosystems. Furthermore, the garden would plant a demonstration pollinator garden complete with educational signage host/nectar plants, importance of species and how to's on having one's own garden host native butterflies, honey bees and native bees. This would include regular free, public programs and workshops. Additionally, the garden will incorporate edible plants to teach how bees are responsible for pollinating a majority of the global food supply. The goal of the grant is to educate the public on just how important and fun it is to cultivate these small but impact-full creatures in our urban setting.
Surfrider Foundation | $10,000.00
The Surfrider Foundation is a non-profit grassroots organization dedicated to the protection and enjoyment of our world’s oceans, waves and beaches. Founded in 1984 by a handful of visionary surfers in Malibu, California, the Surfrider Foundation now maintains over 250,000 supporters, activists and members and 100 chapters worldwide. For over 15 years, Surfrider has been an instrumental partner in the restoration through maintenance, the removal of invasive species and the planting of native species in the dune system. With their grant, Surfrider proposes to plan, organize, promote and conduct six (6) dune restoration projects over a two-year period. Three (3) of the six (6) will include a planting component. Simultaneously, all litter will be cleaned from the dune. In areas where needed, native species will be planted with guidance from a local qualified professional. These plants will be chosen based on City of Miami Beach's native plant guidelines and sourced locally.
VolunteerCleanup.org | $10,000.00
VolunteerCleanup.org engages volunteers to clean their neighborhoods, shorelines and waterways, to raise awareness about marine debris and encourage people to reduce their reliance on single-use disposable plastics. Their website, www.volunteercleanup.org, is a free resource connecting cleanup organizers with volunteers looking for shoreline cleanups to join and helping changemakers to host their own cleanups. They propose organizing and leading a series of six (6) shoreline cleanups in Miami Beach, spread out throughout the year, prioritizing the cooler months. Cleanups will be carried out in different areas and terrains: three (3) beach cleanups (one each in of South Beach, Mid-Beach, and North Beach) and additionally, three (3) cleanups in less common areas where trash collects: causeways, canals and islands. Volunteercleanup.org will educate and help volunteers understand the sources of trash in our oceans and waterways, the impacts and consequences to marine life, as well as potential solutions that they can be a part of. Volunteercleanup.org will also catalog and quantify their impact using the “Clean Swell” app and measure the weight of debris gathered.
Dream in Green | $7,500.00
Dream in Green (DIG) is a South Florida based non-profit founded in 2006 in response to the need to promote environmental stewardship. DIG will provide Waste, Water & Energy – Learning & Behavior (WE-LAB) workshops for City of Miami Beach residents promoting energy and water savings. The WE-LAB program is the genesis of a partnership between DIG and Miami-Dade County’s Office of Resilience to educate residents about the critical interdependence between water and energy use, and the need to reduce solid waste in urban households. As part of their grant deliverables, DIG proposes three (3) WE-LAB workshops which would be organized with the help of City of Miami Beach staff. The scope of work includes the designing and planning of an initial WE-LAB workshops designed to focus on waste reduction and recycling supporting the current plastic free initiative in the City of Miami Beach. DIG will then promote and implement proposed workshops, one for each neighborhood (North, Middle and South Beach).
Miami Waterkeeper | $6,000.00
Miami Waterkeeper (MWK) proposes a strategic outreach and education campaign related to nutrient pollution and water quality in Biscayne Bay. MWK will work with the City of Miami Beach and surrounding communities to provide educational materials such as infographics, multi-media collateral, and in-person training opportunities to educate decision-makers, stakeholders, students, and community members on water quality threats and solutions for abating nutrient runoff. As part of this educational effort, MWK will conduct strategic online outreach their audience of more than 18,000 subscribers and followers comprised of diverse members of our community. They will also host two (2) in-person trainings in partnership with local schools and host a training for the community at large specifically targeting property managers, landscapers, and contractors in an effort to reach diverse audiences. The goal of this effort is to increase awareness of water quality impacts to Biscayne Bay and promote environmental stewardship.