New Grant Opportunity for OC Jewish Climate Projects
Adamah, the new name of recently merged Jewish environmental organizations Hazon and Pearlstone, has launched a matching grant fund to incentivize OC Jewish non-profits to take climate action and reduce emissions. OC Jewish non-profits that join Adamah’s Jewish Climate Leadership Coalition may apply for matching grants of up to $10,000 for energy efficiency and other climate-related projects (up to $36,000 for solar panels). The OC Jewish Climate Fund is made possible by a gift from Robert S. De Leon and Susan Mattisinko through the Jewish Community Foundation of Orange County.
The Jewish Climate Leadership Coalition launched in September 2022 with 20 founding partners, representing the major umbrella organizations of Jewish life. Over 190 Jewish organizations have signed on to the Coalition to date, commiting to reduce their institutional emissions and mobilize their broader networks to take climate action.
To join, a nonprofit’s CEO or rabbi can fill out this simple registration form. To learn more about the Coalition (including the OC Jewish Climate Fund), visit the Coalition’s website or watch this three-minute video.
Coalition members gain access to a wealth of resources, including webinars, one-on-one consultations, office hours with Adamah experts, and peer connections. There are no minimum requirements for what a non-profit’s climate action work looks like since each non-profit is starting at a different place. Membership in the Coalition is free.
Adamah leaders visited Irvine on March 28 to launch Adamah SoCal. Serving Orange County, Los Angeles and San Diego, Adamah SoCal will catalyze change and engage the community in climate efforts deeply connected to vibrant Jewish life. Adamah CEO Jakir Manela spoke at a Lox & Learn for teens and parents at TVT Community Day School, a Jewish Collaborative of OC Lunch & Learn for clergy and agency leaders, and a Community Scholars Program conversation for the public on the Jewish Climate Movement.
Nine of the 21 OC Jewish nonprofits attending the Lunch & Learn already have joined the Coalition and are developing climate action plans to reduce emissions.
At the Lunch & Learn, Beth Bernstein of the Merage JCC and Bob Sklar of Congregation B’nai Israel in Tustin shared how greening grants of $6,000 each from the Adamah/Hazon OC Ride spurred further climate action by their organizations. The Adamah/Hazon OC Ride, a Jewish environmental bike ride in March 2022, had over 200 participants and volunteers and raised over $20,000.
The J began recycling and composting and took campers on environmental education field trips. Preschoolers are composting their food scraps in a large container they enjoy spinning and then are using the compost in their vegetable garden. The J now composts the large number of cardboard boxes it receives. The greening grant energized staff to increasingly incorporate sustainability in more of their daily operations.
Congregation B’nai Israel’s greening grant covered half the cost of installing 36 digital thermostats. Now CBI is going solar with a 126 kW solar carport system and, as a Coalition member, is benefiting from guidance from Adamah’s solar experts at no charge.
“OC community members are excited to learn more and do more about Jewish climate action and want to collaborate with each other and Adamah SoCal. We are thrilled that our community is eager to start OC chapters of Adamah’s Gen Z-led Jewish Youth Climate Movement and Adamah on Campus,” said Susan Mattisinko, an OC member of Adamah’s Climate Advisory Board and a co-chair, with her husband Robert De Leon, of the Adamah/Hazon OC Ride in 2022.
For more information about Adamah, visit adamah.org.