“You are the Chesapeake Bay what???”

Yea, I get that a lot. With so many organizations in the watershed created to help restore the Chesapeake Bay, I am not surprised when I meet people who have no idea what the Trust is. The funny thing is, they probably have heard of us and just don’t know it exactly what we do.

The Chesapeake Bay Trust was created in 1985, and is the only non-profit grantmaking organization in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. What does that mean? Basically we take the donations we receive and put them toward funding for projects related to restoration, community engagement, urban greening and environmental education. In 2010 alone, we funded grants that engaged 97,803 students and 5,098 teachers through our programs and granted $380,000 for environmental field trips.

We have two grant programs that are designed specifically to help teachers find the funding they need to allow their students to have meaningful watershed experiences in the Chesapeake Bay, and now to help fulfill the new Environmental Literacy requirement.

Our Mini grants are the most popular for teachers to apply for, and grants have ranged from $25 to $5,000. Most of this funding is applied to individual class field trips or schoolyard habitat installations, and have ranged from activities like native plantings to stormwater stenciling. We also have an Environmental Education grant which has three areas of focus. Environmental literacy, meaningful watershed experiences, and green schools are all funded by our education grants, and tend to be larger and are applied to whole schools or counties.

How are we able to do all of this? With help from people like you. How many people know what a Bay Plate is? You know those attractive looking license plates with the blue heron? Well when you purchase a Bay Plate for your car, you are donating directly to the Chesapeake Bay Trust and our grant programs. We also receive donations from the Chesapeake Bay and Endangered Species tax form check off, partnerships with businesses and corporations, and from individual donors like you. W are proud to say that 90% of all donations we receive go directly back into restoration and education for the Chesapeake Bay.

So yes, you probably have heard of us if you have purchased a Bay Plate or your child has gone on an environmental field trip in Maryland. We just work behind-the-scenes to ensure the Chesapeake Bay restoration effort continues and that the Bay is around for people to enjoy for years to come.

If you would like to help support environmental education in the Chesapeake Bay, please visit our Causes page.