title
PROPOSED GRANT AWARD
Department: Environment and Sustainability
Grantee: Cook County
Grantor: USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA)
Request: Authorization to accept grant
Purpose: The USDA grant allows Cook County Department of Environment & Sustainability (CCDES) to launch a Community Food Scrap Drop-Off Program at the South Suburban College's Center for Hard to Recycle Materials (CHaRM Center) and launch a comprehensive Food Waste Prevention and Diversion Marketing Campaign countywide.
Grant Amount: $318,500.00
Grant Period: 3/1/2025 - 2/28/2027
Fiscal Impact: FY2025 $280,000.00; FY2026 $20,000.00; FY2027 $18,500.00
Accounts: The account string where cash match requirement, if applicable, is funded, in following format: Fund. Office. Object Account, Object Account Description.
Concurrences:
The Budget Department has received all requisite documents and determined the fiscal impact on Cook County, if any.
Summary: The Cook County Food Scrap Drop-Off Program includes giving residents, public schools, public libraries, colleges, and other non-profits a permanent location where they can dispose of their food scraps. This location will be at the CHaRM Center at the South Suburban College (SSC) in South Holland, IL. CCCDES will also provide the first 1,400 residents, and 100 schools, libraries, colleges, non-profits, that sign up for this program free containers or carts that they can use to bring their food scraps to the CHaRM Center. CCDES will partner with non-profit Seven Generations Ahead (SGA) in the execution of the Food Scrap Drop-Off Program. In addition, CCDES will fund SSC to establish a paid zero-waste student internship program to support SGA and the CHaRM Center in the implementation of this program. These student interns will receive the necessary education and training to be ambassadors of this program to local communities as the County works to engage residents in this program. Finally, the Coo...
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