Giving Together

Giving Together is your opportunity to join fellow fundholders in supporting collaborative, community-based projects, where the Community Foundation brings partners and resources together to strengthen communities and address Vermont’s most pressing needs. Read a Q&A between VCF staff highlighting the significant role Giving Together plays in grantmaking. 

This Giving Together round features projects from across the state for two competitive grantmaking programs: Spark Connecting Community and the Samara Fund. 

To learn more about each of the projects we are looking to fund, scroll down or click the fund names above to jump to the summaries. 

The Goal: Fund 70 incredible projects across Vermont.

This year, the Spark Connecting Community and Samara Fund grant programs received more than 100 applications combined, with requests exceeding $500,000—far more than the current budget can support. By raising an additional $35,000 for each program, we can increase the total grantmaking budget to $280,000 and fund 70 community-driven projects across Vermont. 

Please join us in making a difference in towns, villages, and communities across Vermont. 

How to Participate

Log in to the VCF Portal and choose Spark Connecting Community – Giving Together or Samara Fund Giving – Together between Monday, April 13 and Tuesday, April 28 at 5 p.m. to make a grant.  

Give Now

If you need assistance: Reach out to your Philanthropic Advisor directly or through Kate Bentley at 802-388-3355 ext. 228 or kbentley@vermontcf.org. Kate can help answer questions related to the Donor Portal or connect you with your advisor. 

Spark Connecting Community

The Spark Connecting Community grant program supports local projects with small grants (up to $5,000) that make a big difference by building social capital and supporting community-level improvements.  

Below are projects we can fund with your support. Join us in raising $35,000 to make all 30 Spark Connecting Community projects a reality.  

• ANEW Place seeks $5,000 to support its Neighbor-to-Neighbor Aftercare Support Pilot, connecting adults leaving homelessness with a network of community members who provide consistent relational support as they transition into independent housing—helping them maintain housing, pursue employment, and navigate independent living. County served: Chittenden 

• Black River Innovation Campus seeks $5,000 to support the next phase of Hollywood, VT, an event series that brings Vermont-connected film scripts to life through live-read performances. Phase Two will build on the success of their pilot by establishing a structured program of three films as a catalyst for civic dialogue, culminating in a live performance that brings together professional and community voices. County served: Windsor 

• Bright Side Play Place seeks $5,000 to support the Bright Side Community Connection Initiative, creating welcoming, low-barrier opportunities for families with young children in Franklin County to connect through shared play, parent support, and community partnerships. County served: Franklin 

• Champlain Islands Celebration of the Arts seeks $4,250 to support a Youth Music program. Champlain Island elementary students will collaborate with professional instrumentalists, composers, teachers, and high school students to create original music for community residents. County served: Grand Isle 

• Come Alive Outside seeks $5,000 to support Spooky Passport: A Countywide Community Connection Pilot for Rutland, sparking connection and belonging across the community. Prioritizing lower-income households and shaped by community input, the passport highlights free and low-cost experiences in arts, outdoors, and local traditions. County served: Rutland 

• Community Action Response Network seeks $5,000 to support a Community Action Preparedness Event in Middletown Springs, a one-day event to ignite its mission and create a more resilient town by building a network of support and action for emergencies. County served: Rutland 

• Dad Guild seeks $5,000 to expand in-person programs into Franklin County to ensure fathers and masculine-identifying caregivers residing there have the community and support needed to raise healthy families. County served: Franklin 

• Downtown Brattleboro Alliance seeks $4,900 to support the Brattleboro Community Ambassadors pilot program. During signature events and busy weekends from June to December, friendly young Community Ambassadors will welcome locals and visitors to downtown Brattleboro. County served: Windham 

• Forest for Learning seeks $5,000 to support the Performing Arts Amphitheater, an arts and performance space in a natural bowl in the Forest for Learning, which abuts Putney Central School and is within walking distance to downtown. Tiered log benches will seat 200 people and provide a memorable natural setting bringing community and schools together. County served: Windham 

• The Town of Franklin seeks $5,000 to support Free to Make Art Summer Classes, providing high-quality, no-charge arts and crafts classes to Franklin County residents of all ages in an accessible social setting. County served: Franklin 

• Habitat for Aviation seeks $5,000 to support SEE IT. TRY IT. BECOME IT., hands-on aviation STEM build stations that will pop up at community fairs and outreach events, giving youth and families a chance to use real tools, complete small take-home projects, and imagine themselves as builders, mechanics, and pilots. County served: Franklin 

• Johnson Renewal and Recreation Initiative Company seeks $5,000 to support Pondkeepers: An Intergenerational Community Renewal Project & Documentary, bringing ecologists, families, artists, and educators together to restore a long-neglected community pond through hands-on ecology, shared learning, and creative expression. County served: Lamoille 

• Leach Public Library seeks $5,000 to support an ADA Project Community Celebration for an expansion that makes the century-old library accessible to all. It includes a renovated community room named for the late Irasburg author Howard Frank Mosher and his wife, Phillis, in recognition of their contributions to the library and community. County served: Orleans 

• The Town of Lunenburg seeks $3,890 to support the Lunenburg Community Park Bench project by purchasing 3 long-lasting and weather resistant community benches for the grassy area between the Town Office building and Lunenburg Station, providing a common meeting spot for all residents. County served: Essex 

• Merrymac Farm Sanctuary seeks $5,000 to support Shared Summer Harvest in 2026, centered on community connection, sharing the garden harvest, and repurposing surplus produce for MMFS rescue animals. County served: Chittenden 

• Monteverdi Music School seeks $4,000 to support Montpelier Porchfest, a collaboration with musicians that engages the community through outdoor music, creating new connections, and bolstering those already in place. County served: Washington 

• Montgomery Recreation Center seeks $1,500 to support Montgomery Cares for our Seniors, serving a homemade lunch once per month for anyone over 60 living in Montgomery. The goal is to reduce hunger, support health, and improve quality of life. County served: Orleans 

• NEK Sew-Op seeks $5,000 to establish a fully equipped community workroom where people can gather to learn and practice sewing arts. The organization will offer space for individual pursuits, group classes and instruction, and a reclaimed materials shop. County served: Caledonia 

• North Country Union High School seeks $5,000 to support the Mobile Mug, a student-led coffee and baking program empowering students, including those with special needs, through meaningful, real-world work experiences. County served: Orleans 

• Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont seeks $5,000 to support Long-Handled Spoons Dinners, nourishing resilient communities one meal at a time. Community members can apply for micro-grants to host neighborhood meals and create opportunities to strengthen community ties. Counties served: Statewide 

• Richard Kemp Center seeks $5,000 to support Healing Justice, a peer-led, non-clinical initiative creating culturally affirming spaces for Black Vermonters to process racial trauma, build resilience, and strengthen collective care. County served: Chittenden 

• River Gallery School (RGS) seeks $5,000 to support the Refugee Art Fund, supporting art education for New Vermonter youth. Classes are led by RGS teaching artists alongside refugee artists, fostering professional development and career opportunities in the refugee community. County served: Windham 

• Salvation Farms seeks $4,569 to support Harvesting Connection Across Generations to deepen connections between community members, local farms, and the food system through a hands-on gleaning and community meal project. County served: Lamoille 

• Sandglass Theater seeks $3,195 to support Sandglass Theater Youth Panel Initiative, a five-member youth panel to seek input and reflection on performances and forums, building skills in critical thinking, public speaking, and civic engagement. County served: Windham 

• Sharon Connects seeks $1,520 to support Sharon Connects Community Outreach to expand community awareness and participation through a refreshed website that includes a donation page, a printed community directory, a monthly events newsletter, welcome baskets, and a wall calendar fundraiser. County served: Windsor 

• South Hero Land Trust seeks $5,000 to support the Island Acres Trail, a 1.2-mile public access trail along the edge of farm fields and a large wetland, connecting the village, school, local farms, and other trail networks. County served: Grand Isle 

• Starksboro Cooperative Preschool seeks $4,837 to support Starksboro Cooperative Preschool Community Partnership, which will improve the preschool playground and revitalize community garden plots to strengthen connections among children, families, and the broader community. County served: Addison 

• Step Out seeks $4,245 to support Shared Harvest: Connecting Through St. Albans Urban Gardening at Hope Grove in St. Albans, bringing together people in recovery and transition through planting, care, and shared harvests. Counties served: Franklin, Chittenden 

• Sustainable Woodstock seeks $5,000 to support the Riverside Mobile Home Park Community Building project, partnering with local organizations to host community meetings on flood preparedness and resilience. County served: Windsor 

• Troy Revitalization Committee seeks $2,500 to support Community Reconnection through Mentorship: Revitalizing Troy to launch a weekly mentorship program in the 2026-2027 school year, pairing 10th and 11th graders with 3rd and 4th graders. County served: Orleans 

The Samara Fund

The Samara Fund is led by a volunteer committee of Queer and Trans Vermonters committed to a vision of transformational grants and scholarships to the people and groups throughout Vermont who demonstrate their dedication to the empowerment, health, and safety of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and HIV positive (LGBTQ+) people. 

Below are examples of projects we can fund with your support. The goal is to raise $35,000 to make 40 Samara Fund projects a reality.   

• Out in the Open seeks $5,000 for rural LGBTQ+ movement building and general operations, supporting its year-round work for rural LGBTQ+ liberation and justice within Vermont. Out in the Open is a multiracial, grassroots, majority working-class movement and capacity-building organization whose mission is to connect rural LGBTQ+ people to build community, visibility, knowledge, and power. Counties served: Statewide, Washington, Windham 

• Planned Parenthood of Northern New England (PPNNE) seeks $5,000 to support the Gender Affirming Care Fund. Access to specialized care for transgender, nonbinary, gender diverse, and gender nonconforming people remains limited across northern New England. PPNNE addresses this gap by training clinicians to provide inclusive services, including Gender Affirming Hormone Therapy (GAHT), at health centers and via telehealth across Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. Counties served: Statewide 
• The Vermont Network Against Domestic and Sexual Violence seeks $5,000 to support its SafeSpace Anti-Violence Program. SafeSpace provides comprehensive services to support LGBTQ+ survivors of hate, bias, harassment, discrimination, abuse, intimate partner violence, stalking, trafficking, sexual harm, and other systemic and community harms. Counties served: Statewide