Port Arthur News: Five-year grant funding for Environmental Champions to $55K to celebrate groups

As part of The Port Arthur LNG Environmental Champions Initiative powered By The Port Arthur News, grant money will be awarded to several service groups in Mid County and South County next month.

The partnership is anchored by Earth Day and will divide $55,000 in grant funds to area groups working to improve the environment.

Port Arthur LNG, a company committed environmental stewardship said Kelly Prasser (Sempra LNG Senior Manager for External Affairs).

The quality of the applications for environmental programs was outstanding. We look forward with great anticipation to the positive effects on the community.

The deadline for applications was March 1-15. On March 23, a panel made up of five community representatives met in order to select the winning organizations. They also received a check detailing the amount they would receive.

Kenneth Klutts (Port Arthur LNG lead environmental inspector) said that it was a privilege to have the opportunity to represent Port Arthur LNG at this outreach to local organizations working in the Mid County area to beautify and improve the environment.

Klutts was with Thomas Kinlaw, Port Arthur Councilman, and Bob Hope High School Campus Director Jesus Acosta. OTRA Hispanic Media Owner Fernando Ramirez, Port Arthur Newsmedia Sports Editor Chris Moore.

The panel chose the following groups to receive funding together:

• Port Arthur’s Willie Carter Outreach Center provides peer-based support for substance abuse and mental health. Carter Outreach Center requested funding for Juneteenth 2022’s Goes Green beautification project. This will allow them to replace flowerbeds and paint bleachers as well as restore information boards and playground equipment at Barbara Jacket Park.
• Memorial High School science department hosts Memorial Life Skills. Department leaders plan to use the funds to build a garden that will be used as a collaborative effort between general education and special education students. According to the grant application, the goal is to teach children how to grow food, from seed to vegetable.
• The Golden Triangle Audubon Society and Sabine Woods Bird Sanctuary will work together to remove invasive non-native species and replace them by native plants.
• Port Arthur Top Ladies of Distinction, Inc., a non-profit, plans to educate Top Teens about volunteering by adding flowers and sponsoring monthly park cleanup events.
• Bob Hope High School will establish a sustainable garden, and chicken coop. Kelsey Borza, Director of Development, stated that the project’s primary goal is to teach students how to create a sustainable garden on school property. Another goal is to show high school students how raising chickens can benefit the environment.
• The Gulf Coast Youth Soccer Club plans to add up to two dozen oaks to the complex in order to provide shade and beautification to the area near the corner of Twin City Highway, Hogaboom Road.
• Dick Dowling Lions Club, Sabine Pass, plans to improve landscaping at the community center and replace any dead trees. They also plan to add landscaping to Lions Park.
• Sea Rim State Park is restoring the Gambusia Nature Trail & Boardwalk that were removed. The $500,000 project will create a mile-long ADA-friendly nature walk. However, the group has been soliciting grants from a number of organizations to reach their goal.
• Salt Club, a Pleasure Island cleanup organisation, will be cleaning North Levee and South Levee streets while also educating youth about the harmful effects of littering.
• The Nederland Economic Development Corp. will be landscaping along Atlanta Avenue. It recently acquired property to build new businesses.
• Building Our Children Ministry Inc. hosts field trips for students in kindergarten to eighth grade.^ThThey hope to organize more cleanups and plant trees, flowers, and other plants.

During a reception at the Texas Artists Museum on April 4, representatives from each organization will receive checks.