March 16, 2020 Update: If your TLGV-funded spring cleanup has been postponed or cancelled, please let us know. We will automatically extend use of TLGV funds until September 30, 2020. If the cleanup is held close to September 30, we ask that you send us the paperwork/reimbursement request by October 7 so we can issue the check and close our books for the fiscal year. If the cleanup is planned for October 1 or later, please let us know as soon as possible because we will have to amend the contract.

Funds are still available for 2020 cleanups:

The Last Green Valley, Inc. (TLGV) will award $12,000 in cleanup funds in 2020 to help ensure the national heritage corridor can remain clean and green. The program is funded, in part, thanks to the support of bankHometown. Up to $500 in funding is available to nonprofits and municipalities wishing to organize a cleanup event.

In the last eight years, 11,274 volunteers have collected 407,603 pounds of trash from parks, rivers and roadways throughout The Last Green Valley National Heritage Corridor thanks to the funding. Cleanups in The Last Green Valley National Heritage Corridor can request up to $500 in funding. Cleanups outside the corridor, but still in the Thames River watershed, can request up to $250 in funding.

“The demand for the funds is so great we want to maximize every dollar we are able to contribute,” said Lois Bruinooge, executive director of TLGV.

The total cleanup funds allocated was increased from $10,000 to $12,000 in 2019 to meet the demand, Bruinooge said. The increase was thanks, in part, to bankHometown’s sponsorship of the program, which began in 2019. The bank has contributed $1,000 each year to the program in 2019 and 2020. bankHometown has been a supporter of TLGV since 2008.

“bankHometown is proud to continue its support of The Last Green Valley and their critical efforts to preserve, protect, and celebrate the region’s natural heritage,” said Robert J. Morton, president and CEO of bankHometown. “We salute TLGV’s ability to make a difference in our communities.”

Funding recipients will be reimbursed for expenses such as publicity, cleanup supplies such as trash bags and work gloves and food and refreshments for volunteers. TLGV will also help publicize the event and recruit more volunteers.

Application details can be found at TheLastGreenValley.org under “Grant Opportunities” in the “Learn & Protect” menu.

The Last Green Valley National Heritage Corridor is the last stretch of dark night sky in the coastal sprawl between Boston and Washington, D.C.  The Last Green Valley, Inc. works for you in the National Heritage Corridor. Together we can care for it, enjoy it and pass it on!

bankHometown was founded in 1889 and is headquartered in Oxford, Massachusetts. The bank has $1.0 billion in assets and 15 branches located throughout central Massachusetts and northeastern Connecticut. Through its sponsorship and charitable giving program, bankHometown and the Hometown Bank Community Foundation support non-profit organizations and causes throughout