Community Grants Archives | Bainbridge Island Parks & Trails Foundation

$15K in Community Grants, more than $1M given this year

$15K in Community Grants, more than $1M given this year

The Bainbridge Island Parks & Trails Foundation has awarded Community Grants totaling$15,000 to six park and recreation clubs and programs.

The Community Grants cap a big year for the Foundation, which has given $1.020 million in total support to the Bainbridge Island Metro Park District in 2023 for park and trail projects, programs and parkland acquisition.

Community Grants were awarded to purchase new kayaks for the Bainbridge Metro Parks recreation department; tools and equipment for Gear Grinders youth bicycle club, for their volunteer work on public trails; new sculling oars for Bainbridge Island Rowing; educational signage for a heron rookery along the Charles Schmid Waterfront Trail in Winslow; educational signage for dog owners in local parks; and support for future tennis courts at Sakai Park.

“This is why we’re here,” said Mary Meier, Parks & Trails Foundation executive director. “Island neighbors and clubs […]

$15K in Community Grants, more than $1M given this yearDouglas2023-12-15T15:04:12-08:00

Got a project? Get a Community Grant

Got a project? Get a Community Grant

Got a great project? Get a great grant for parks and trails.

The Bainbridge Island Parks & Trails Foundation’s 2023 Community Grants program is now open, with applications due by 5 p.m. Oct. 1.

Grants of up to $3,000 are available for qualifying park and trail projects.

Apply online, and find the grant guidelines with examples of past funded projects, at www.biparksfoundation.org/grants.

Community Grants are awarded to capital improvement projects that enhance our parks, trails and recreational opportunities. Since 1998, the Parks & Trails Foundation has awarded Community Grants totaling more than $879,000 supporting youth and adult park and recreation programs and facilities on Bainbridge Island.

Individuals or clubs that are not nonprofit organizations but want to apply must partner with Bainbridge Metro Parks on their project. Contact the Parks & Trails Foundation for assistance in […]

Got a project? Get a Community GrantDouglas2023-09-01T15:48:07-07:00

Stop weeds – brush those boots before you hike

Stop weeds – brush those boots before you hike

Brush your boots before you hike? It’s good policy, and good trail hygiene, catching the spread of invasive weeds and seeds before they’re tromped all over trails and parks.

To that end, you’ll find new boot-brush stations at two island trailheads: Gazzam Lake Preserve (Deerpath Lane) and Blakely Harbor Park (3-T Road). Two more are on the way, at Grand Forest West (Miller Road) and another at Gazzam Lake (Marshall Road trailhead, this one an Eagle Scout project and also funded by a Parks & Trails Foundation grant).

“They’re exactly like what people might on their front porch to scrape mud off their boots before they head inside,” says Morgan Houk, volunteer program manager for Bainbridge Metro Parks. “They can be used coming in and out of trail systems to catch invasive weeds – especially in the wintertime, when we tend to […]

Stop weeds – brush those boots before you hikeDouglas2023-08-25T09:19:44-07:00

Community Grant funds ‘pug mill’ for Eagledale Pottery Studio

Community Grant funds ‘pug mill’ for Eagledale Pottery Studio

Humans have been using clay for some time now – 16,000 years at last count, give or take an epoch – to craft everything from water jugs to funerary vessels, bricks to busts, tablets to trinkets.

Malleable when wet but reliably ridgid when fired or dried, it’s no stretch to think of clay as a wonder material upon which a good chunk of civilization itself has been built.

Turns out clay was way out in front of the recycling curve, too. Here, a dash of modernity helps.

“What’s neat about clay is that none of it has to be wasted, and you can keep using it over and over,” says Debbie Fecher-Gramstad, sculpture instructor at Eagledale Pottery Studio. “But the process of making used clay usable again, that has been hard and slow.”

Until now. “Peter Pugger,” the studio’s new pug mill – essentially […]

Community Grant funds ‘pug mill’ for Eagledale Pottery StudioDouglas2023-02-02T10:31:34-08:00

Community Grants program now open thru Oct. 1

Community Grants program now open thru Oct. 1

The Bainbridge Island Parks & Trails Foundation’s 2022 Community Grants program is now open. Completed applications are due by Oct. 1.

Community Grant are awarded to capital improvement projects that enhance our parks, trails and recreational opportunities.

For individuals or clubs that are not nonprofit organizations but want to apply, and need to partner with an agency, please contact Barb Trafton for assistance in working with Bainbridge Metro Parks.

For more information, email barb@biparksfoundation.org.

DOWNLOAD THE GRANT PROGRAM GUIDE APPLY TODAY THRU OCT. 1

Community Grants program now open thru Oct. 1Douglas2022-09-01T10:18:47-07:00

Community Grants fund community chess board at Battle Point

Community Grants fund community chess board at Battle Point

For the record, Ben Watson doesn’t actually play chess.

But you may – or checkers, for that matter – and Watson’s Eagle Scout project sets you up for a pleasant match at Battle Point Park.

The Bainbridge High School junior installed an outdoor chess board and benches at the park this summer to complete his Scout requirements for Bainbridge Island Troop 1564. The project was supported by a $2,700 Community Grant from the Bainbridge Island Parks & Trails Foundation.

“I was thinking I really wanted something that would last,” Watson said. “I wanted something really permanent that I could come back to, way down the line.”

“Permanent” pointed to concrete, in both senses of the word, and Watson wanted something more interactive than a typical park bench. While not a chess player himself, he landed on an outdoor chess table typical of many urban […]

Community Grants fund community chess board at Battle PointDouglas2022-08-20T10:11:47-07:00

Parks Foundation awards $16,000 in Community Grants

Parks Foundation awards $16,000 in Community Grants

The Bainbridge Island Parks Foundation has awarded Community Grants totaling $16,000 to six park and recreation clubs and programs.

Grants will support youth and adult recreation through Friends of Bainbridge High School Sailing Club, Bainbridge Island Water Polo Club, Bainbridge Island Swim Club, Boy Scouts Troop 1564, the Eagledale Park pottery studio, and the park stewardship program of Bainbridge Metro Parks.

The 2021 Community Grants program is supported by Puget Sound Energy.

Grant awards include: BHS Sailing Club, $3,000 for a new C-420 sailboat for youth regattas; BI Water Polo Club, $3,000 for new conditioning equipment; Bainbridge Metro Parks stewards program, $3,000 for new tools for volunteer conservation and stewardship events; BI Swim Club, $2,775 for a new records board for the Bainbridge Island Aquatic Center; Boy Scouts Troop 1564, $2,775 for a new community chess table and benches at Battle Point Park; Eagledale Pottery […]

Parks Foundation awards $16,000 in Community GrantsDouglas2021-11-11T11:08:56-08:00