ALBANY - Eight Capacity Building Grants awarded Monday by the park and trail advocacy group Parks & Trails New York will provide not-for-profit park and trail organizations with the tools and expertise they need to survive and thrive in these challenging economic times.  Funds will be used to increase organizational visibility and generate community support, grow membership, and attract additional volunteers. 

Active and engaged park and trail support organizations contribute significantly to the New York’s parks and trails, raising significant funds and logging hundreds of thousands of volunteer hours.

“Parks and trails have a key role to play in the economic health and recovery of New York State, and grassroots groups have a key role to play in the development and promotion of parks and trails,” said Robin Dropkin, executive director, Parks & Trails New York.  “Made possible by a generous private donor, these eight grants are a small investment in strengthening our state’s not-for-profit park and trail organizations that will reap big benefits, enabling these groups to leverage more private funding and marshal more volunteer power to better fill the gaps in government spending created by challenging economic times.”

Awards were granted to:

Friends of Robert Moses State Park Nature Center, Massena, St. Lawrence County
$2,770 for professional assistance with expanding fundraising initiatives and undertaking website and electronic newsletter design and production to support the Nature Center’s operation and programming.

Friends of Van Cortlandt Park, Bronx
$2,500 for five forums in communities surrounding New York City’s fourth largest park to allow residents to help define park projects and programming and to recruit volunteers and identify new partners and supporters for the Friends. 

Friends of Glimmerglass State Park, Cooperstown, Otsego County
$2,400 for consultant assistance with development of a marketing strategic plan and outreach materials to establish organizational identity and partner relationships within the community for the newly-formed group dedicated to increasing visitation and participation in programs in the park overlooking Otsego Lake.

Hudson Valley Rail Trail Association, Highland, Ulster County
$2,240 for redevelopment of the organization’s website to increase membership and provide greater awareness of the trail, local attractions, and the trail’s connection to the Walkway Over the Hudson and Mid-Hudson Loop Project.

Friends of the Rail Trail, Delmar, Albany County
$2,000 for printing and mailing of a membership/project information brochure to promote and engage community financial and in-kind support for the newly-formed group advocating for the 9-mile Albany County Rail Trail between the City of Albany and Voorheesville.

Trail Works, Inc. Williamson, Wayne County
$1,850 for presentation of four free public programs and creation of presentations and displays on the work and mission of the organization for each of the county’s 15 towns to increase financial and volunteer support for developing and maintaining a county-wide trails system.

Hoosic River Watershed Association, Hoosick Falls, Rensselaer County
$880 for design and construction of a website for the Hoosic River Greenway, a 2.5-mile rail trail being developed within the Village of Hoosick Falls.

Friends of Great Bear Recreation Area, Fulton, Oswego County
$360 for printing of an informational and membership brochure to generate community support for and assistance with the preservation and improvement of the 425-acre Great Bear Recreation Area, which includes a section of the Oswego River Canal Towpath Trail. 

Parks & Trails New York received more than 75 applications from park and trail groups located in 41 counties throughout the state. 

Parks & Trails New York is a statewide not-for-profit organization that has nurtured New York’s park and trail movements for more than 20 years, helping hundreds of groups and municipalities build, maintain, and promote parks, greenways, and more than 1,200 miles of multi-use trails.