48 green projects get Rockwell Collins funding

Rockwell Collins got an early jump on Earth Day by distributing $90,000 worth of small grants to 48 community-based projects.

The company announced its Green Communities awards during an employee Earth Day event Thursday April 21, in one of the company's LEED certified buildings. The company awards grants of up to $2,500 in communities all over the world where Rockwell Collins has employees or operations, Rockwell Collins Community Relations Manager Cindy Dietz said.

Thirty of the 48 grant recipients are in Eastern Iowa.

Project AWARE, sponsored by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, will use the $2,500 grant to help volunteers clean trash and litter along Iowa waterways.

Brian Soenen, Project AWARE coordinator, said community volunteers will clean up 90 miles of the Little Turkey and Volga rivers in northeast Iowa between July 9 and 16. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources will hold ceremonies incorporating part of the Turkey River stretch as a state water trail during the cleanup week.

The Oak Hill-Jackson Neighborhood Association will use its $2,000 grant for a community gardening project that provides food and environmental education while bringing community residents together.

The program has issued more than 300 grants since it started in 2004 with the first $30,000 in grants, Dietz said. The program's primary focus is on education, and many schools are using it to fund projects that combine education with sustainability benefits.

Projects must be submitted by a non-profit organization or public entity teamed with a Rockwell Collins employee or retiree.

The following were awarded grants

$2,500 awards

• Anamosa Parksand Recreation Department

• Archbishop Hennessy Catholic School

• City of Canton

• Edward L. Rose Conservancy, Inc.

• Hawkeye Area Community Action Program

• Indian Creek Nature Center

• Iowa Department of Natural Resources/Project A.W.A.R.E.

• Iowa Department of Natural Resources/Lake MacBride State Park

• La Trobe Wildlife Sanctuary

• Moving Milan Forward LLC

• Reception Class, Plaistow & Kirdford Primary School

• Regent Honeyeater Project Inc.

• Rockwell Collins Child Development Center

• San Bernardino Mountains Wildlife Society

• St. Andrew Lutheran Church

• Summer of the Arts, Inc.

• Taylor Elementary School (CRCSD)

• The Garden City Fund

• Trees Forever Inc.

• Vinton-Shellsburg Community School District

• West Delaware County School

• YMCA of the Cedar Rapids Metropolitan Area

$2,000 awards

• Chenango Forks Central School District

• Decorah Community School District

• Groundwork Dallas, Inc.

• Linn Christian Education

• Linn County Trails Association

• Northeast Community School District

• Northeast Iowa Community College Foundation

• Oak Hill Jackson Neighborhood Assoc.

• Palm Bay Community Charter School Patriot Campus

• Preston Community Schools

$1,800 award

• AMIkids Space Coast, Inc.

$1,500 awards

• Agricultural Extension District Delaware County

• BufordGarner Elementary School

• Linn-Mar School Foundation

$1,000 awards

• Cedar Valley Habitat for Humanity

• City Of Palm Bay

• Institute of Cultural Affairs

• Iowa Department of Natural Resources/Bellevue State Park

• Universalist Unitarian Church of Farmington

$700 award

• City of Traer

$500 awards

• Community Corrections Improvement Association

• Connecting Caring Communities

• Decorah High School

• Harmony School of Innovation

• Matthew 25 Ministry Hub

• Sacred Heart School