04.22.2009 -  The Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties and the Quantum Foundation joined other sponsors in recognizing nonprofits at an awards luncheon April 15

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (April 22, 2009) – Several nonprofit organizations in Palm Beach and Martin Counties that have worked to become more “green” while providing valuable community services, received recognition for their “green” efforts at the 2nd Annual Nonprofits Going Green Awards Luncheon held recently at the Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties.

The 2nd Annual Nonprofits Going Green Contest honored the work of 20 nonprofit organizations in Palm Beach and Martin Counties working to make a difference while becoming more environmentally sustainable. Nonprofit organizations received special grant awards and other prizes in recognition of the greening of their operations and programs due to the generous donations of the contest’s sponsors The Environmental Endowment Fund of the Community Foundation, The Quantum Foundation, The Office Depot Foundation, Citigroup and Starbucks. The luncheon’s Master of Ceremonies was Anchor Chandra Bill of WPTV NewsChannel 5. Winning nonprofit organizations received cash and donated prizes in a wide range of categories including Most Green with the Least Green, Sustainability Leader, Least Wasteful, Energy Saver, Greenraiser and Judges’ Green Harvest. Prizes ranged from $4,000 to gift baskets of organic, green products from Starbucks.

“The Community Foundation understands that “going green” is not just a fad but a necessary process of transforming the way we live, work and build communities. Nonprofits often serve as incubators and educators for positive changes in our community,” said Leslie Lilly, President and CEO of the Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties. “However, nonprofits are concerned about fundraising in a challenging economy and how to juggle being “green” amongst many competing priorities. The 2nd Annual Nonprofits Going Green Contest and Program aimed to provide all nonprofits incentives, tools and resources to ‘go green’.”

Nearly 60 nonprofit organizations applied from throughout Palm Beach and Martin Counties. Applications were received from a wide variety of nonprofit organizations – from organizations with budget sizes of $10,000 to over $10 million in a diversity of sectors including health, human services, education, religion, arts, housing and the environment. The organizations were judged for the environmental sustainability they achieved beyond their mission. 

“We at Quantum were pleased to co-sponsor this contest, to recognize the creative efforts of the Community Foundation to promote environmental stewardship in south Florida, to celebrate the work so many area nonprofits are doing to go green, to call attention to our own Gold LEED-certified building as a demonstration of what is possible, and to inspire others to join us all in implementing the strategies, large and small, needed to assure healthier communities in the future,” said Paul Gionfriddo, President of Quantum Foundation.

“The Office Depot Foundation applauds the Community Foundation’s leadership in encouraging nonprofit organizations in our community to operate in an environmentally sustainable manner,” added Mary Wong, President of the Foundation.  “We are committed to enhancing the ability of nonprofits to operate as efficiently and effectively as possible, and going ‘green’ clearly helps to meet both of those goals.”

Among the goals of the contest was to raise the awareness of all nonprofits of how to become more sustainable. The awards luncheon featured “green tips” and profiles of some of the winning organizations and other tips and resources for going green are currently featured at www.yourcommunityfoundation.org/green. The Community Foundation will also be designing a process for supporting nonprofits in Palm Beach and Martin Counties to become green certified. Over 92% of nonprofits who applied indicated an interest in being certified as a green nonprofit and articulated a need for technical support in these efforts.

Please click here to view the complete list of winners.. Photos of the contest and profiles of the winners and their green tips are also available at www.yourcommunityfoundation.org/green.

The Nonprofits Going Green Contest is the latest in a series of initiatives supported by the Community Foundation’s Environmental Endowment Fund. Next week area schools will be honored at the Green Schools Recognition Awards Luncheon on April 21. Later this month, an important report on water resources in Palm Beach and Martin Counties will be released, also sponsored by the Fund.

To learn more about the Nonprofits Going Green program, visit www.yourcommunityfoundation.org/green or contact Daryl Houston, Program Officer at the Community Foundation at (561) 659-6800 or dhouston@cfpbmc.org. For more information about the Community Foundation’s environmental initiatives, please visit its website at www.yourcommunityfoundation.org/environment.

The awards contest and its nonprofit winners are featured in the debut of YourPBC.org, a new "digital public square" launching that launched this week with “Communities Going Green” as  its featured topic. To learn more visit www.yourpbc.org/green.