On the eve of Earth Day, the Community Foundation of Broward is announcing a new collaboration to boost support for the environment and make our community more resilient to climate change.

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We are teaming up with the Museum of Discovery and Science in Fort Lauderdale to launch a Broward Eco Hub for Resiliency Education.

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Anchored at the museum, this Eco Hub will champion community engagement, education and action for environmental sustainability and resiliency in Broward.

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With $300,000 in support from the Community Foundation spread over the next three years, the Eco Hub will:

• Raise community awareness about sea-level rise and other local challenges of climate change
• Bring together residents, community leaders, businesses and others to broaden engagement about making Broward more resilient to climate change
• Create museum exhibits and programs that educate visitors, encourage dialogue and inspire action about resiliency and sustainability
• Encourage environmental collaborations that foster workable solutions

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In addition, through a network of nonprofits brought together by the Eco Hub, the Community Foundation will continue to support innovative opportunities to protect Broward’s fragile environment, raise awareness about environmental challenges and develop strategies to make our community more resilient to climate change.

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“This is an exciting opportunity to raise awareness about challenges we face and actions we can take to make our vibrant community more resilient and environmentally sustainable,” said Sheri Brown Grosvenor, Community Foundation Vice President of Community Impact. “With the Museum of Discovery and Science as a partner, the new Eco Hub will create an innovative platform for community engagement that produces real solutions.”

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Creation of the Eco Hub is the latest Community Foundation collaboration to fuel support for Broward’s environment. In September, Spirit Airlines donated $50,000 to the Community Foundation to support efforts to protect and restore the environment.

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Spirit’s donation is part of a new wave of Community Foundation support to uplift Broward’s environment. Through the years, Community Foundation grants have made it possible to restore beach dunes, clean up waterways, plant trees, study climate change implications, protect wildlife habitat and much, much more.

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The Community Foundation’s $300,000 in 2022 environmental grants support:

• Flamingo Gardens, Eco-Teers Youth Volunteer Program – Provides teens and young adults with a deeper engagement to environmental action projects and educating the community about climate change and ways to help protect natural areas.
• Friends of Birch State Park, Coastal Dune Lake Habitat Restoration – A two-year project to clean out the north end of Long Lake, making it accessible for guests in canoes or kayaks and to improve the ecosystem in and around the lake. Volunteers will remove cattails, non-indigenous vegetation and debris. A contractor will pump 2 to 3 feet of muck from the lake floor.
• National Wildlife Federation, Community Resilience through Urban Forest & Habitats: The Broward Habitat Connectivity Project – Continue environmental and climate change education, and sustainability actions by focusing resources in lower-income communities and communities of color, especially Lauderhill, Lauderdale Lakes, North Lauderdale, Margate, Tamarac, Sunrise, and neighborhoods within the Broward Municipal Services District. Plant three new habitats and hold seven community-based workshops and tree giveaways.  A new “Garden in a Box” program will ship native plant collections to residents, with the creation of 150 new wildlife habitats.
• The Everglades Foundation, Expansion for the Everglades Foundation’s Champion Schools Program in Broward – Engage and empower young people to use civic action to improve the local environment and their communities. Provide Everglades awareness and education to teachers through professional development trainings that include content and materials for students.  The program includes field trips to the Everglades.
• Youth Environmental Alliance, Project EEASY: Education & Engagement of Active Stewardship with YEA – Provide educational classes to up to 5,000 students that engages them in eco-action they can take at home or in planting and restoration events. Through partnerships with BCPS, NSU’s Marine Environmental Education Center, municipalities and Broward County, participants will learn how to become environmental stewards by participating in five different classes focused on water quality/conservation, CO2 pollution, importance of mangroves, plastic pollution and global warming.

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At the Community Foundation, we know that protecting Broward’s environment creates a more vibrant and resilient place to live, for generations to come.

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Thanks to the dedicated philanthropists who create charitable funds at the Community Foundation to support the environment, we will always be there to help make Broward a more vibrant, resilient and sustainable place to call home.

To learn how the Community Foundation of Broward can help you can create a BOLD impact with your philanthropy, contact Vice President of Philanthropic Services Nancy Thies at nthies@cfbroward.org or 954-761-9503.

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