Grassroots Grants

Valley Improvement Project (VIP) was founded in 2012 in Modesto in Stanislaus County in response to local incineration and waste issues in their community, and the negative health impact of the remaining incinerators in the state of California. The funding is to support their campaign to shut down the Stanislaus County Incinerator, one of the remaining two in California. Story of Stuff is currently in post- production of the documentary Burning Injustice featuring VIP’s multigenerational work. 

Founded by Sharon Lavigne, a retired special needs teacher and winner of the 2021 Goldman Environmental Prize, Rise St. James is a grassroots organization based in St. James, Louisiana. Sharon has dedicated herself to keeping multibillion dollar chemical plants out of her community. We’re so proud to tell her story in the next installment of The World We Need, an animated series that offers a vivid look at the inspiring frontline activists protecting America’s communities against environmental degradation and racism.

Over the past two years, we’ve provided $10,000 to Rise St. James to support their fight for racial and environmental justice. In addition to this grant support, our Community joined Rise St. James’ campaign to stop Formosa Plastics from building a massive plastics factory on the banks of the Mississippi River in St. James, Louisiana. A new petrochemical plant would pose serious public health risks to this predominantly African American community, due to the toxic discharge of chemicals into the air and water. 5,000 of our community members helped deliver a powerful message to the Army Corps of Engineers against Formosa, adding their names to a total of 40,000 comments urging the Corps to revoke the project’s permit. The Army Corps has since suspended Formosa’s construction license. The campaign is ongoing.

Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation (MCWC) is a grassroots, all-volunteer group dedicated to the conservation of water into the 7th generation and beyond. MCWC first organized in 2000 to protect water resources in Mecosta County, where Nestlé Waters North America was extracting 400 gallons of water per minute. While nearby communities like Flint lack access to safe, public, drinking water, Nestlé (now BlueTriton) is seeking to ramp up its water extraction, leading to an ongoing fight to keep corporate bottlers out of this area.

MCWC participated in our March 2021 virtual rally, and has been a Nestlé’s Troubled Waters campaign partner since 2017. In Q1 of 2021, we supported MCWC with a $4,000 grant to help offset the costs of filing a legal complaint over their state environmental regulator’s dismissal of MCWC’s challenge to Nestlé’s permit to draw water in Evart, MI. This is the second grassroots grant received by MCWC since 2017, an example of Story of Stuff Project’s long term commitment to supporting local organizations.

Community Water Justice is a network of frontline communities against water privatization in Maine. Determined to secure protections, rights, and accessibility to groundwater, this group focuses on educating the public about the integral significance of the water commons, proactively protecting the commons at the municipal level, and modernizing state laws to safeguard groundwater under public stewardship that takes into account the rights of Nature.

As one of our Nestlé’s Troubled Waters campaign partners, we have worked closely with Community Water Justice since 2018, and collaborated on key campaigns, communications, and events like our March 2021 virtual rally to raise awareness and funds for critical water site fights like Maine’s Evergreen Spring, and several others across North America.

Ten years ago, concerned citizens of Chaffee County rallied to put up a fight when Nestlé Waters North America applied for a permit to build a pipeline and extract water from Ruby Mountain Springs. Amid broken promises and bitter public opposition, Nestlé/BlueTriton is seeking to extend its permit to extract water for another decade. Now, Un-bottle & Protect continues to fight for the interest of Chaffee County residents by calling for an end to such permits once and for all.

Unbottle & Protect joined our March 2021 virtual rally as a featured partner, and has been a campaign partner for several years.

Our Santa Fe River is composed of concerned citizens working to protect the waters and lands supporting the aquifer, springs, and rivers within the watershed of the Santa Fe River. This volunteer-run organization promotes public awareness pertaining to the ecology, quality, and quantity of these iconic freshwater springs, which are threatened by Nestlé/BlurTriton’s push to increase withdrawals to over 1 million gallons a day.

We partner with Our Santa Fe Springs as part of our Nestlé’s Troubled Waters campaign, and are committed to supporting our campaign partners until access to safe drinking water becomes a public and universal right.

Ka’ala Farm restored an ancient agricultural complex in the Wai’anae Valley to produce taro in the same way that the indigenous people of this part of Hawaii did for centuries. For founder Eric Enos, the ancestral way of taro farming is a way to reconnect with the cycles of the land, protect the soil and water, and teach responsible stewardship to his people. Ka’ala Farm also serves as a cultural center, offering youth programs, internship opportunities, and counseling centers to help guide at-risk youth and struggling adults back into the community. 

We tell Eric’s story to restore land, water, and culture in the first installment of The World We Need video series.

SWaCH is a cooperative of wastepickers in India working together to improve their working conditions and build a society that is a society that is socially just, economically equitable, culturally plural, politically democratic, environmentally sustainable, peaceful and humane.

The mission of the Rio Grande International Study Center is to preserve and protect the Rio Grande-Rio Bravo, its watershed and environment, through awareness, advocacy, research, education, stewardship and bi-national collaboration for the benefit of present and future generations.

The Port Arthur Community Action Network, or “PACAN”, is an environmental justice advocacy and community development organization. PACAN is a 501(c)(3) certified, community based non-profit serving the City of Port Arthur, TX and surrounding areas.

Southern Sector Rising seeks to offer the marginalized residents of Dallas health equity by ending decades of racist zoning, forcing industrial polluters out of predominantly Black and Brown residential neighborhoods, and by more evenly distributing the pollution burdens of their city.

The AGUA Coalition is a regional, grassroots coalition of impacted community residents and allied non-profit organizations dedicated to securing safe, clean, and affordable drinking water for San Joaquin Valley communities.

AGUA was formed in 2006 in response to widespread contamination of valley drinking water. Residents saw the need to form a unified voice to push for solutions to address the root causes of drinking water contamination; share information on drinking water problems, opportunities, and solutions; and mobilize residents to take action

As in many agricultural regions, rural California communities face deep-rooted barriers to sustainable development that have been inadequately addressed by public policy. Since 1977, CIRS has focused on rural and agricultural issues, seeking sustainable solutions. They take particular pride in forging beneficial relationships with grassroots stakeholder organizations while maintaining the respect and cooperation of research institutions in the state. Agencies and policy makers also look to CIRS substantive analysis of current public policy issues.

Sure We Can is a non-profit recycling center, community space and sustainability hub in Brooklyn where canners, who are people that collect cans and bottles from to streets to make a living, come together with students and neighbors through recycling, composting, gardening and arts. Their mission is to support the local community, particularly the most vulnerable residents, and promote social inclusion, environmental awareness and economic empowerment. For over 10 years, Sure We Can has served the community of canners, and today it has evolved into a community center that promotes a sustainable urban culture and facilitates a circular economy.

The Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, formed in 1987, is a 501-c-3 nonprofit organization with a mission to organize and maintain a diverse grassroots organization dedicated to the improvement and preservation of the environment and communities through education, grassroots organizing and coalition building, leadership development, strategic litigation and media outreach. Their work encompasses much of West Virginia and the Ohio River Valley.

East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice (EYCEJ) is a community-based organization that works to facilitate self-advocates in East Los Angeles, Southeast Los Angeles and Long Beach. By providing workshops and trainings, EYCEJ prepares community members to engage in the decision-making processes that directly impact their health and quality of life. EYCEJ emerges from years of unheard community voices that have silently suffered the effects of pollution in their neighborhoods. Through grassroots organizing and leadership building skills, EYCEJ works to enable under-represented communities to be heard, which in turn influences policy change, policy makers and agencies that can institute health protective environmental justice policies.

Cooperation Jackson is an emerging vehicle for sustainable community development, economic democracy, and community ownership. Cooperation Jackson believes that we can replace the current socio-economic system of exploitation, exclusion and the destruction of the environment with a proven democratic alternative. An alternative built on equity, cooperation, worker democracy, and environmental sustainability to provide meaningful living wage jobs, reduce racial inequities, and build community wealth. It is our position and experience, that when marginalized and excluded workers and communities are organized in democratic organizations and social movements they become a force capable of making transformative social advances.

The purpose of the Louisiana Environmental Action Network (LEAN) is to foster cooperation and communication between individual citizens and corporate and government organizations in an effort to assess and mend the environmental problems in Louisiana. LEAN’s goal is the creation and maintenance of a cleaner and healthier environment for all of the inhabitants of this state.

Azul is the only ocean conservation organization in the U.S. that focuses specifically on working within Latinx communities.  Using culturally relevant communication techniques, Azul leverages both localized grassroots and “grass tops” strategies to engage Latinxs as long term conservationists with a pragmatic and common sense approach to resources use and protection. Azul has been instrumental in driving several California-based policy “wins” including banning of single use plastic bags, banning the sale and possession of shark fins, and creating legal remedies that allow fining private property owners who illegally block public access to California’s beaches.

GreenLatinos is a national non-profit organization that convenes a broad coalition of Latino leaders committed to addressing national, regional and local environmental, natural resources and conservation issues that significantly affect the health and welfare of the Latino community in the United States.

GreenLatinos provides an inclusive table at which its members establish collaborative partnerships and networks to improve the environment; protect and promote conservation of land and other natural resources; amplify the voices of low-income and tribal communities; and train, mentor, and promote the current and future generations of Latino environmental leaders for the benefit of the Latino community and beyond.

Madhvi Chittoor, also known as “NoStyrofoamNinja,” is a passionate 10-year old environmental activist working to fight plastic pollution and climate change.

Overcoming the obstacles of 2020, the organizers of Indigenous People’s Day in Arizona were able to hold a virtual event with musicians, speakers, youth empowerment, art demonstrations, a virtual day of movement, and a virtual movie screening. The celebration of the Indigenous People remains vital to understanding the obstacles the community at large faces. Often their homes and communities are subject to outsider pollution and struggle to find recognition and protection from federal institutions. Coming together as a community despite systemic neglect is one of the most essential actions indigenous communities can take as they push to dismantle settler-colonialism.

The Northern Alameda County (NAC) Group considers urban environmental issues in the cities of Oakland, Berkeley, Albany, Emeryville, Alameda, Piedmont, and San Leandro. These issues can include environmental justice, air quality, the tree canopy, public trust lands, creeks, the San Francisco Bay and water, pollution and toxics, parks and open space, bird and wildlife habitat, green buildings and infrastructure, zero waste, plastics, clean and renewable energy, electrification, affordable housing, green and public transit, and natural-resource protection.

One small community in rural Louisiana is not fighting to keep just one polluter out, but over a dozen. St. Johns Parish in Louisiana faces a Mount Everest with multiple peaks. Rise St. James, founded by Sharon Lavigne, is currently seeking to end the permit given to Formosa Plastics for a new plastics facility. This largely black and impoverished community already fights the adverse health effects that plastic facilities emit into the air and water. Speak with Ms. Lavigne for a few moments and she will show you her list of neighbors and friends currently battling cancer and names of those who lost their lives. Ms. Lavigne makes it clear that her fight is not over. She continues to plan canvassing, virtual and in person events, as well as community competitions seeking to educate the youth about the many issues they face in Louisiana. An objective that has become all the more paramount in light of the international Black Lives Matter protests during the summer of 2020.

A small group of Native people from Texas serve the community as the Society of Native Nations, aiming to advocate and protect native land, culture, and teachings. They offer a workshop, Return to the Earth & Mold It “Break free from petrochemical products” with the goal of educating the community about the threats of the petrochemical industry. When the pandemic began impacting their community in March of 2020, Society of Native Nations took an active role in protecting their wisdom keepers, elders, elderly, homeless, and those with underlying health conditions. They began collecting and disbursing fresh food, medical supplies, hygiene supplies and computers for those students lacking access to their education. Starting new programs and continuing to progress other campaigns such as their Food for the Unhoused “Zero waste” project and Pipelines to Plastic Project cements this Society’s strength in defending and preserving their community though they face more challenges than ever.

Wellington Water Watchers is a non-profit organization founded in 2007 dedicated to the protection, restoration and conservation of drinking water in Ontario. They are primarily run by volunteer citizens from southern Ontario who are committed to the protection of local water and to educating the public about threats to the watershed. 

Combating the climate emergency requires a diverse and broad approach. SoCal 350 Climate Action, a coalition of over 100 groups in Southern California, began their fight against climate change in 2013. They pull together advocacy, education, and legislative initiatives. In 2019, The Story of Stuff was able to help SoCal 350 Climate Action produce a 7-Part Plastics Plague series which has evolved into an EcoJustice Radio show.

The Chicano Indigenous Community for Culturally Conscious Advocacy and Action is a cooperative organization which provide effective, supportive resources to low income residents, focusing on Chicano indigenous reconnection, environmental justice, and sacred site protection

Gabriel Paul’s Water (nə̀pi) Song of the Penobscot Nation translates to “water / we love you / thank you so much water / we respect you” and is beautifully sung by Gabe’s own niece, Leigh Neptune. The Penobscot Nation relies on the clean fresh water of the Penobscot River in order to maintain their communities health and traditions. This water has been threatened by Nestle and the State of Maine in rights based litigation. Community Water Justice, a network of dedicated activists throughout the state of Maine, joined the battle by hosting a Maine Water Security Summit to unite members from Community Water Justice, the Penobscot Nation, and the Sierra Club. Now, they are pressing forward with bulk water extraction legislation in Maine, source funding for an extensive aquifer system study and citizen scientists, and continue their outline for a water privatization research project. 

Cutting through the plains of Pennsylvania, a snake worms its ways over 30,000 miles and leaving carnage behind for the rural neighborhoods to clean up. The snake is 24-inch pipelines which would begin in Scio, Ohio and end at the Marcus Hook refinery commonly known as The Sunoco Logistics Mariner East Pipeline Project. The pipeline transfers approximately 770,000 barrels of natural gas liquids across the state everyday. 770,000 barrels of carnage through their neighbors yard. Through state game lands, lakes, rivers, sensitive wetlands, schools, farms, densely populated residential areas and rural homesteads which violates the rights of hundreds of thousands to clean air and water. While the pipeline’s activity is currently on hold due to legal proceedings, the affected community members are left to deal with the mess.

The Louisiana Bucket Brigade has supported fenceline communities in the state for 20 years. Founding Board members Margie Richard of Norco, Dorothy Jenkins and Shonda Lee of New Sarpy, and Founding Director Anne Rolfes incorporated the organization in 2000 with guidance from groups like Xavier University’s Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, Earthjustice, Communities for a Better Environment and the Sierra Club. From the first days of its inception, the Louisiana Bucket Brigade was inspired by people in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria who stand up to the devastation of oil production and gas flaring that continues to this day.

Wellington Water Watchers is a non-profit organization founded in 2007 dedicated to the protection, restoration and conservation of drinking water in Ontario. They are primarily run by volunteer citizens from southern Ontario who are committed to the protection of local water and to educating the public about threats to the watershed. 

La Placita was formed in Flint, MI in 2015 as a non-profit 501c3 organization dedicated to advocating for the Hispanic-Latino populations in Genesee County in the areas of education, cultural awareness and social needs.

Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation’s mission is to protect Michigan’s surface and ground waters from pollution, plunder, and privatization through education, advocacy, and action. Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation (MCWC) is a grassroots, non-profit, all-volunteer organization. MCWC organized in 2000 to protect our water resources from corporate theft; specifically, after the state granted Nestlé Waters North America a permit to withdraw 400 gallons per minute in Mecosta, MI. Through MCWC, local citizens began a legal battle that continued for seven years, limiting Nestlé’s grab of fresh water by the millions of gallons. Their work continues as they strive to protect the water of the commons from those who would pollute, plunder, or privatize.

The contemporary story of David and Goliath plants itself in the desert of Patagonia, New Mexico where the grassroots coalition must defy the odds and oppose the colossal fossil fuel industry. The Patagonia Area Resource Alliance (PARA) boldly leads the charge to protect their community and surrounding diverse ecosystem by working with local businesses and organizations to educate and collaborate with its citizens in opposing the various mining companies seeking access to the town’s water. PARA was able to produce a short film in order to educate and mobilize its citizens. Their work, however, is not over. Goliath still hovers over the small town.

The Our Water Campaign successfully canvased, educated, congregated, and communicated to the community of 300,000 and local legislators until Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro began holding the parties responsible for poisoning the residents of Pittsburg. However, he left some parties unaccounted for in his legal pursuit. Specifically, Veolia, the Paris-based water corporation responsible for the contamination. If they are not also held responsible for their role in polluting, the responsibility to “clean-up”, a laborious and costly task falls back on the same community already struggling to recover from the health and financial catastrophes at play.

The volcano known as Mount Shasta is part of watersheds for three rivers in Northern California.  The purity of the waters emanating from Mount Shasta has made the area a target for water and beverage bottling companies eager to profit from these resources. Upon hearing the news about Crystal Geyser Water Company’s purchase of the empty Coca-Cola Mt. Shasta facility in October 2013, a group of concerned community members joined together and formed We Advocate Thorough Environmental Review, more commonly known as W.A.T.E.R.  Having known about or actually experienced the many problems that occurred during the operation of the facility by Dannon Waters and Coca-Cola, these citizens have worked since to ensure that these problems would not reoccur.”

In the ash of devastating fire in September of 2014, the value of water to the small community of Weed in Northern California became the difference between life and death. Already struggling to rebuild, a small group of citizens realized that they didn’t actually own the water in Beaughan Springs and only two years later did the lumbar company, Roseburg Forest Products, command its power over political officials and control the water for bottling. Ravaged by fire, stripped of water, and now exposed to the toxins of water bottling facilities. The phoenix of this story, Water for Weed, has risen from the ashes with their sights on legal opposition and providing immediate relief to the fire department and families without clean water.