Lenoir County Community Foundation has awarded grant funds to Green Lamp, which will use the funds to support the Just for Me Time project.
Greene Lamp, a private nonprofit agency serving Lenoir, Greene and surrounding counties, provides programs which allow low-income families to move away from governmental support and to a life of self-sufficiency.
This grant will allow Greene Lamp to purchase educational programming for use by low-income children who are assessed as having developmental delays. The specially-adapted manipulatives will aid children in maximizing their developmental weaknesses and/or educational regression during the summer months.
The program was also developed to provide parents with practices to help their child(ren) lessen the possibility of regression, as well as parent/child activities using the adapted manipulatives .
The Lenoir County Community Foundation awarded $5,020 in grants to Girl Scouts Coastal Pines, Greene Lamp, Pink Hill Elementary School, Lenoir County Farmer’s Market Annex Solar Garden, The Gate, and Make a Wish.
Have a greener Thanksgiving
It can be easy to forget being green in the midst of the menu-planning, grocery-buying and family networking that precedes most Thanksgiving celebrations. But with all the effort, time and money you put into this yearly tradition, why not make your Thanksgiving a little greener? Here are some ways to bring sustainability into your holiday.
Go low waste. On a day where copious amounts of food are as commonplace as football and family togetherness, reducing waste can seem next to impossible. But creating a low-waste Thanksgiving is easier than you think.
Shop in your pantry. Before you even start to make a menu, take stock of what you have. Using what you have on hand keeps prices down in the kitchen and reduces waste. Take inventory of what’s in your refrigerator, freezer and cupboards and build your shopping list around what you find.
Use it up. One-third of food in America goes to waste, adding up to 15 percent of what’s in our landfills. Fight back against food waste by using every bit. Vegetable scraps can be used to add extra flavor in stocks, gravies and sauces. Don’t forget to compost what’s left.
Have a leftover plan. Sure, you could feed the family turkey and stuffing for five straight days. But why not incorporate your Thanksgiving leftovers into innovative recipes for added variety? Search cookbooks and the Internet for day-after recipes using Thanksgiving leftovers.
Take a look at your energy use. People tend to think more of physical waste on Thanksgiving, but remember this is a time to stress energy efficiency to your household, beginning with your cooking. If you have several dishes that need to be in the oven at the same temperature, put them in at the same time to reduce energy use and prep time.
Ban paper and plastic. If every family in the U.S. bought one less package of paper plates a year, we could save a lot of trees. Help out by using reusable plates, utensils and cups. Don't forget to stock up on reusable containers for the mountain of leftovers.
Decorate with nature. You can create beautiful centerpieces from the nature in your own backyard. Think: pinecones, evergreen branches, etc.
Remember the three R's. Keep the “reduce, reuse, recycle” mantra in mind even when the feast is over. Don't buy more than you need and shop with reusable bags. Also, composting the food scraps returns it to the soil instead of tossing it in the garbage.
Trudy W. Pickett is extension family and consumer agent at the Lenoir County Cooperative Extension Center, 1791 N.C. 11/55. Reach her at 252-527-2191 or trudy_pickett@ncsu.edu.