The Evanston Community Foundation Wednesday announced two grants totaling $4,550 from the Climate Action Fund to Evanston organizations Rimland Services and St. Mark’s Episcopal Church.
The grant to Rimland Services purchases motion sensor lighting for their 11 Evanston community-based living options, reducing electric consumption and increasing sustainability. Rimland provides team-based, collaborative care for individuals with autism in community-living homes.
St. Mark’s Episcopal Church’s grant converts lighting in its meeting rooms, kitchen, and other community spaces to LED, reducing its electrical costs and its carbon footprint to benefit the local environment.
Community spaces at St. Mark’s are home to Interfaith Action’s Hospitality Center for the Homeless, Wildkit Cheerleading, a Tai Chi class, and numerous other community classes and groups.
The Rev. Debra K. Bullock, rector of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, said, “As our awareness of our carbon footprint has increased, it was important to St. Mark’s to begin making changes. Converting to LED lighting is one step along the way.”
Grants from the Climate Action Fund support Evanston’s ongoing campaign to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The Fund was established as one of the strategies to implement the city’s original Climate Action Plan in 2008, and invests in greenhouse gas emissions-reduction projects in Evanston, with a special emphasis on projects benefiting nonprofit organizations and lower-income households.
It is intended to enable all community members to participate in helping Evanston meet its overall emissions reduction goals. In administering the Fund, ECF collaborates with the City of Evanston’s Office of Sustainability, Citizens’ Greener Evanston, and other organizations focused on Evanston’s environment.