Since, 2007, BWB has awarded annual grants of $100-$1,000 for civic projects that grow community while making a lasting impact. The goal is to inspire people everywhere to apply their passions to the issues they care most about to their communities.  To date, BWB  has provided over $90K in grants for over 100 projects that have made a positive impact around the world, by leveraging a relatively small amount of money against the mighty power of the community’s capacity to make a difference.

Do you have an idea for a project in your community? You are invited to apply in May, 2017.

We are excited to present you with the winners of the BWB Community Micro-Grant Program 2016:

Pullman Farmers Market Early Childhood Education Program – Pullman, WA
This project will create a space at the local farmers market for children ages 0-14. Each week the children will be presented with a different educational project that promotes education about local foods from the Palouse area, access to healthy eating choices for low income families, and educate the community about the benefits of growing fresh healthy local food. The simple activities will be engaging, entertaining, and educational. By engaging children as well as their parents in the market’s mission, we hope to create a strong feeling community ownership, and encourage participation in our mission.

One Stitch at a Time – Jacmel, Haiti
In collaboration with Jakmel Ekspresyon we are developing a sewing studio and program to teach community members how to sew. This program will work in conjunction with the Screen Printing studio and workshops that were built with BWB & Burning Man Project in 2014.  The program is broken down into four modules to teach machine maintenance and sewing basics, how to sew from a pattern, how to develop a pattern and copy a garment, and finally how to design/development/construction a garment of their own. Upon completion, the students will be able to take jobs using the equipment and support the theatrical arts for their organization and community.

Support Organic Seed Savers Access to Farmer Education- Philippines
Farmers in the Northern Philippines have zero access to organic seeds. This forces farmers to purchase synthetic and non-organic seeds, which threaten environmental sustainability and cause great economic burdens for farmers who have to purchase seeds after each planting. This program will establish an organic seed library in the Municipality of Tublay in Benguet Province in the Northern Philippines. The seed library will ensure that indigenous farmers have access to locally produced organic seeds, which will protect the biodiversity of the Filipino food system.

Re:Cover Nepal – Solukhumbu District, Nepal
Our Re:Cover Nepal project is comprised of 3 components: Construction, Education and Regrowth. A year after the earthquakes in Nepal, many families are still without shelter.  The grant from Burners without Borders will cover the entire cost of the Regrowth component by funding the planting of 1,000 trees. Much of the regions forests have been devastated by locals foraging for building materials. By educating villages on the importance of local forests and helping them replant trees, the ecological balance of the forest will be restored as well as provide natural erosion and air quality control.

Watson Learning Garden –  North Las Vegas, NV
We are building a student-centered learning garden in the heart of a school.  Our goal is for our garden to be utilized to inspire students to learn more about growing food and develop an appreciation for nature- we want to bring the process of growing food to life for them. v It will be a living learning area that teachers will utilize on a daily basis.  Our students will not only understand where food originates from the garden, they will learn how to grow their own food, how to compost, and other sustainable methodologies.  

Frio Cero: Gala Dinner  –  Buenos Aires, Argentina
During a winter day in May Square we will be hosting a dinner for the homeless in collaboration with Red Solidaria.  Red Solidaria is a network of civic organizations that provide help to people in need. Frio Cero (No Cold) is their initiative to tackle the problem of winter with homeless people: they provide food and clothing every Friday on public squares in Buenos Aires.
We are extending the experience of satisfying not just basic needs, but also an artistic experience those at the dinner can enjoy and remember. We are getting youth orchestras involved to play while the dinner is being served. We want to give the homeless a feeling of dignity, and at the same time encourage kids and teenagers to take action and get involved.

Language Through the Arts / Idioma Traves de las Artes –  Ometepe, Nicaragua
Ascential Dance School founded Language Through the Arts as a response to a request from the village of Merida on Ometepe Island, Nicaragua. Our call is to provide English/Spanish language classes to the communities of Altagracia (Volcan Concepcion) and Merida (Volcan Maderas) while using dance, music, art, theater and math as a ‘carrier’ form. September 2016 will begin our fifth tour to the island and we are in the final planning stages to expand our efforts into Moyogalpa, San Ramon and El Gineo villages. ADS has over 100 committed, regular students ages two to sixty four attending one to four classes per week at no cost to the community or the families.

Ecole mixte assemblee du st esprit  –  Port au Prince, Haiti
Cite Soleil is one of the most notorious slums in the Western Hemisphere, many of the youth do not have the resources to attend school. Following the earthquake of 2010, a group of community leaders took it upon themselves to change that and founded the Assemblee school. For the last 6 years the school has provided free education to community youth through traditional education and strong community development programs. We are repairing out educational facilities and gearing up for our next season of summer camp.

Street Store Detroit –  Detroit
Street Store started in South Africa and we are bringing this to the homeless of Detroit as a Pop-Up to serve them with dignity.
At the Pop-Up Shop the Homeless will be able to shop with dignity for items they like.  There have been over 450 of these Pop-ups across the Globe and Detroit is proud to be yet another.n  This fits our BWB-chapters mission of serving the homeless with dignity and compassion. It takes our Homeless Backpack Project to a new level as this one allows the homeless to pick what they want and clothes that fit them.

ART&LOVE Caravan project  – Western Balkans: Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia and Monet Negro
An art and educational project involving small communities in the Western Balkans.  The purpose of this project is to connect people through art and workshops after war and conflicts in this region that are still present in people’s minds (unfortunately, post-conflict issues are still not completely overcome). We will offer free and public nonviolent communication workshops at our events and hope to create connections between local civic organizations for future collaborative projects in these countries.

La Calaca  –  San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
La Calaca is a 4 day participatory arts festival in San Miguel de Allende which takes place amidst the backdrop of Day of the Dead.  We are bridging cultures through art and culture.  By celebrating Death, we aim to celebrate Life.  Our Children’s program is called Calaveritas and over 4,000 children come to the Parque Juarez, our main park, to participate in art workshops, and construct altars for their individual dead.

Kingfisher Malawi  –  Chitimba, Malawi
Teaching primary kids from a northern Lake Malawi village the principles of Burning Man, working with them to create their own art pieces for our own Burn on my friend’s land in Malawi, creating a small piece comprised of letters, hopes and dreams for Burning Man 2016’s Temple, and a hope to integrate more African representation into future Afrikaburns, through participation, collaboration, and art.

Mujeres Sembrando la Vida  –  Zinacantán, Chiapas, México
Our mission is to serve the local community with education and economic empowerment. Initially, our participants will be the women who have been in our artisan collective since 2008. We have been constructing a community learning center in Zinacantán. The first floor is complete, and is set up for children and youth with books, games, educational toys, and a playground in back. High school students receive a scholarship to study, and in return help with remedial education. We are working toward teaching and training adults. 

Civic Empowerment  –  Chicago, IL
Our Civic Empowerment project will bring together diverse groups of youth in Chicago to expand their knowledge about their communities and the issue of homelessness.  After learning about homelessness in their community, youth will take the lead on creating and hosting a large Community Meal and Resource Fair, serving over 100 community members and bringing awareness to the issue of homelessness.

Workshops in the Jungle –  Calais, France
Volunteering in the refugee camp ‘The Jungle’, we have actively working with both the women’s & youth centers.  The issue of education is very pressing here and for that reason I have started  working as a group leader in yoga and meditation.  Additionally I will start teaching workshops on recreating donated clothing into toys and garments.

Artist/Maker Container at Communitere  –  Katmandu, Nepal
Nepal Communitere believes the best results come from bringing diverse groups of people together for a common goal. Our principle is to encourage people who wouldn’t otherwise connect to come together and have the opportunity to understand each others strengths and weaknesses and then help them to leverage their respective assets to help each other achieve shared goals.  In this effort, we are converting a 20ft container into a residence space for a Maker or Artist in Residence to be permanently housed at our compound.

Permaculture Action Day – Los Angeles, CA
The Permaculture Action Network will join forces with Common Vision, Kiss the Ground, and BWB-LA to create a Permaculture Action Day this summer in Los Angeles, CA.  As a pilot event leading to a larger possible ‘Road to Burning Man Project’ we want to bring together volunteers, community members, and sustainability leaders together to create a workday and celebration of taking care of our neighborhoods and our planet.

> How to create a Project.