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sustainabletompkinsFrom dyes to dishes, from Ithaca's heart to the edges of Tompkins County, the latest round of Neighborhood Mini-grants from Sustainable Tompkins will assist businesses and organizations coming up with new ideas to enrich lives while reducing environmental impacts. Five grants totaling $1,400 were awarded in September to Dish Truck, Dryden Community Garden, Enfield Elementary School Garden, Quinn Energy, and Luna Fiber Studio.

Dish Truck is a new and growing organization, lending and washing reusable dishware at public events to reduce the use of disposable ones which are no longer accepted at local composting facilities. A mini-grant for purchasing more dishes will help them to expand their capacity.

The retiring founders of the Dryden Community Garden plan to hold a community dinner and discussion as an outreach venue for recruiting new garden leaders. A Mini-grant will support the event.

Cornell Cooperative Extension wants to expand after-school educational programs in growing food crops at the Enfield Elementary School garden. The mini-grant will purchase materials for a fence protecting the garden from herbivores.

A pilot project by Quinn Energy LLC, a new small business, will provide three free "Demand Response Community Meals" at the Southside Community Center on especially cold days this winter, to reduce the neighborhood's energy usage at times of peak demand while providing food and bringing people together.

Luna Fiber Studio, a new Trumansburg business, offers workshops in textile weaving and dying with locally-produced dyes, with particular outreach to women of color and low-income learners. A mini-grant funding the purchase of weaving equipment for student use will help make this possible.

Since 2008, the Neighborhood Mini-Grant Program has provided small grants to organizations, community groups, and micro-businesses in support of initiatives that encourage local self-reliance, strengthen neighborhood connections, and improve communities' quality of life.

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