SDG&E Environmental Champions 2024 Grant Recipients

Bayside Community Center

Linda Vista Community Garden

The Linda Vista Community Garden is the first of its kind community garden installed at a City of San Diego park and grant funding will support final installation costs as well as operations and garden workshops.

Botanical Community Development Initiatives

Community Roots Nursery Free Seedling Initiative

The Community Roots Nursery Free Seedling Initiative includes expanded cultivation and distribution of native and edible plants to schools, food justice programs and greening efforts across San Diego County.

Garden 31 Community Initiative Inc.

Growing with SDGE

Funding will allow Garden 31 to strengthen its farm training and agro-business program serving opportunity youth, while making produce available through the Foodshed Cooperative to underserved communities.

Global Action Research Center

Seeds For The Future

In partnership with Berry Good Food Foundation, this program will provide resources, including raised garden beds and workshops to Southeast San Diego communities.

Project New Village

Activating the Market Street Urban Garden

Grant funding will allow Project New Village, together with Treedom Cooperative, to transform a vacant lot in Southeastern San Diego into a greenspace dedicated to advancing climate justice and food sovereignty.

Servicing Every Soul

Growing Greener Together

Growing Greener Together tackles food insecurity and environmental restoration by creating an educational community garden, food forest and native plant habitats at S&S Friendly Ranch in the Tijuana River Valley.

Agua Hedionda Lagoon Foundation

Outdoor Action

Outdoor Action is a comprehensive program in partnership with Wildcoast aimed at enhancing the Agua Hedionda Lagoon ecosystem through community-driven habitat restoration, monitoring programs and public education.

California State Parks Foundation

State Park Stewardship in San Diego County

California State Parks Foundation's Park Stewardship Program will support volunteer workdays at Palomar Mountain State Park, where volunteers will focus on habitat restoration activities and maintenance of the historic apple orchard.

Earth Discovery Institute

El Monte Cactus Scrub Restoration Enhancement

This project aims to support a 15-acre cactus scrub restoration effort in El Monte Preserve in Lakeside by creating habitat and enhancing climate resilience on site.

Fallbrook Land Conservancy

Appleton Preserve Restoration and Community Access Project

Funds will support habitat restoration, native planting and the creation of a community trail through Apppleton Preserve in Fallbrook.

Indigenous Regeneration

Native Ecosystems: Weed-Free, Fire-Resilient, increasing the water-table

The Regenerative Native Ecosystems Initiative aims to enhance environmental education and stewardship at Paradise Tribal Farm, empowering to cultivate knowledge through indigenous wisdom.

Mission Trails Regional Park Foundation, Inc.

MTRP Foundation Eco Ambassadors and Environmental Stewardship

The Eco Ambassadors program invites cohorts of teens to participate in an 8-week program, using Mission Trails Regional Park as their living laboratory to explore careers and learn habitat restoration skills.

Paradise Gardeners

Paradise Landfill Habitat Restoration

This project will build fencing and create a dedicated path to enhance Paradise Hills Native Garden while preventing the spread of highly invasive plants into restored areas.

San Diego Canyonlands

City Heights Community Canyon Resilience

This project focused on strategic habitat restoration and invasive species management in Olivia Canyon, contributing to urban greening, fire resilience and a workforce training pipeline.

San Diego River Park Foundation

Climate Action in Linda Vista/Mission Valley

This project aims to bolster climate resilience for the San Diego River ecosystem and improve climate equity for the surrounding community by partnering with the YMCA's Mission Valley campus to remove invasives and plant trees as well as a pollinator garden.

U C San Diego Foundation, Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Sunflower Sea Star Restoration Program

Grant funding will support Birch Aquarium to bring back the Sunflower Sea Star from the brink of extinction through spawning, workforce development and public education about the importance of this species to balance the marine ecosystem and bring back kelp forests.

Urban Corps of San Diego

Border Field State Park Natural Habitat Restoration

This project aims to restore and enhance the natural habitat of native plants and animals in Borderfield State Park, utilizing corpsmembers to provide maintenance and restoration while teaching them job skills.

Barrio Botany (fiscal agent: Leah's Pantry)

Thriving 30 School Garden Equity Initiative

The Thriving 30 School Garden Equity Initiative will convene a diverse network of stakeholders to provide garden development and education programming to urban schools in the Promise Zone and surrounding communities.

Nature Collective

Escondido Pollinator + Indigenous Plant School Gardens

Nature Collective will work with Escondido Union School District to create vital urban green spaces by establishing and expanding it pollinator gardens at three elementary school campuses.

San Diego Children and Nature Collaborative

Urban Greening with Native Plant Gardens

Funding will allow SD Children and Nature to advance Phase 2 of an environmental literacy program by installing three pollinator gardens at schools in South County and Lemon Grove and one community garden in Imperial Beach.

Anza-Borrego Desert Natural History Association (ABDNHA)

Trees for Desert Living

Trees for Desert Living is a project in Borrego Springs offering residents free trees combined with workshops as well as public education through enhanced planting and interpretation at the ABDNHA Desert Garden.

Circulate San Diego

Urban Greening Solutions for Traffic Calming

This project will develop an urban greening traffic calming toolkit and report, as well as engage communities by integrating tree needs assessment into walk audits.

Coastal Roots Farm

Community Urban Agroforestry Project

The Community Urban Agroforestry Project at Coastal Roots Farm includes the annual Food Forest Festival tree planting and giveaway event, as well as a series of tree maintenance workshops and the enhancement of on-site food forest through planting of 40+ more fruit trees.

Downtown San Diego Public Spaces Foundation

Grow Urban Tree Planting Campaign

The Downtown Partnership's Grow Urban Program will plant street trees and provide ongoing watering and maintenance in the city's urban core.

Forever Balboa Park

Balboa Park Tree Planting Initiative

Forever Balboa Park will continue its Plant it Forward initiative, planting trees in Balboa Park and creating awareness on the importance of trees with park visitors through events like Arbor Day.

Healthy Day Partners

Healthy Communities Fruit Tree Program

The Healthy Communities Fruit Tree Program donates and plants fruit trees at school and community gardens in San Diego's underserved neighborhoods to alleviate food insecurity and improve quality of life.

Olivewood Gardens & Learning Center

Olivewood-Grown for the Community

This project will expand Olivewood's capacity to produce food for their community by planting 100 fruit trees and building a new greenhouse to support National School District's 10 school gardens.

San Diego Parks Foundation

Tree Planting in City Parks

Funds will be used to support San Diego Parks Foundation's citywide tree planting project, ensuring a safe, inviting and sustainable urban forest by planting 150+ trees in city parks.

Tree San Diego

Canopy Catalysts Program

This program will distribute trees in underserved neighborhoods and utilize Treejectory workforce development program to give participants hands on experience in the sector.

Volcan Mountain Foundation

Volcan Mountain Foundation Forest and Conservation Project

Volcan Mountain Foundation will use fund to implement conservation and habitat management practices, including the planting of 150 conifers and hardwood trees to enhance wildfire resilience and preserve forest-dependent species.