BEACON, NY – Hudson River Sloop Clearwater was awarded a $15,000 grant from Rockefeller Brothers Fund to support Clearwater’s Estuary Education Initiative (EEI). This grant makes possible the new curriculum’s aim to teach thousands of children about the links between scientific research and environmental policy.
“Clearwater is pleased to accept Rockefeller Brothers Fund’s grant on behalf of the many students we serve,” said Wren Longno, Clearwater Director of Development. “As grassroots educators and storytellers, we are in a unique position to tell the story of how partners, including Rockefeller Brothers Fund, have worked together to create a sustainable Hudson Valley.”
Clearwater Board Chair Betsy Garthwaite said, “In 1968, Steven Rockefeller hosted one of the original gatherings to raise funds to build the SloopClearwater at the Rockefeller Farm Barn in Pocantico Hills. That history gives this award special meaning as we embark upon new ways of teaching the history of the Hudson River environmental movement, bringing the river to schools and schools to the river.”
By August 2019, Clearwater anticipates this science curriculum will reach 50 educators, 5,000 students and 500 members of the public, and will be widely shared through professional development conferences and showcased prominently on the Clearwater website and social media.
About Hudson River Sloop Clearwater
Launched in 1969 by legendary folk singer and activist Pete Seeger, Hudson River Sloop Clearwater has been at the forefront of the environmental movement as champions of the Hudson River. To date, more than half a million people have experienced their first real look at an estuary’s ecosystem aboard the sloop Clearwater. Clearwater has become the grassroots model for producing positive changes to protect our planet. For more information, visit www.clearwater.org.
Rockefeller Brothers Fund
Founded in 1940, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund advances social change that contributes to a more just, sustainable, and peaceful world. The Fund’s grantmaking is organized in three thematic programs that support work in the United States and at the global level: Democratic Practice, Sustainable Development, and Peacebuilding; and in two pivotal place programs that address these themes in specific contexts: Southern China, and the Western Balkans. The Charles E. Culpeper Arts & Culture program, focused on New York, nurtures a vibrant and inclusive arts community in the Fund’s home city.
