Chillicothe campus, City of Chillicothe receive grant from Sugar Bush Foundation
Graphic courtesy of: Chillicothe City Administration OfficeChillicothe recycles campaign logo
The Ohio University Foundation Board has recently approved funding for The City of Chillicothe’s Journey on the Zero Waste Pathway, a partnership between the City of Chillicothe and Ohio University Chillicothe. The funding was approved after the partners presented a proposal to The Sugar Bush Foundation in hopes of receiving a grant.
The Sugar Bush Foundation is a supporting organization of The Ohio University Foundation. The Sugar Bush Foundation’s mission is to collaborate with OHIO and its local communities to promote environmental sustainability and socioeconomic development in order to improve the quality of life in Appalachian Ohio.
Each year the Foundation receives project proposals for the Sugar Bush Grant in a variety of categories such as renewable energy, food security, zero waste, environmental protection and restoration, and sustainable development.
Chillicothe’s project focuses on the implementation of a curbside recycling program for the city. The partnership will focus on creating and implementing a Communications and Marketing Plan and schedule events in the region to promote the newly established curbside recycling program the city has planned to launch in August 2018. The University is scheduled to receive funding for the project beginning July 1.
Martin Tuck, Ohio University Chillicothe Campus Dean, remarked, “The Chillicothe campus is pleased to receive the grant and we look forward to our partnership with the City of Chillicothe. We hope that the recycling program will promote and create a culture of sustainability in the region we serve.”
Chillicothe campus students will play a major role in the development and implementation of the marketing plan. While some of these plans may take place in the classrooms of the Business Management Technology and Applied Management programs, the Chillicothe campus, in collaboration with the city, will also use grant funds to place two students as paid interns.
The plan is to place one intern in the City Administration Offices to work under the mayor and the city’s safety services director while the other intern will work with both the city and the Chillicothe campus to organize events. “Chillicothe campus students will benefit significantly from their participation with the project,” shared Dean Tuck. “They will gain the experience in creating and implementing strategic plans as well as benefit by participating in a unique educational and service learning experience.”
The Chillicothe campus also plans to host community events on the campus to promote the program and the importance of recycling and sustainability. In addition, there are also ideas in place to develop programming in the Chillicothe City School system to help foster a culture of recycling and sustainability among the youth in the community.
More details and/or events regarding the city’s curbside recycling program will be announced in the future. For questions regarding the project, please contact Joyce Atwood, Ohio University Chillicothe Resource Development Director, at atwoodj@ohio.edu or 740.774.7732.