Major Awards for AFF's Programs
2010 PARTNERS IN CONSERVATION
Department of Interior
At the headquarters of the Department of Interior, National Park Service Director Jon Jarvis announced that the Alice Ferguson Foundation’s Bridging the Watershed (BTW) environmental education program has received a 2010 Partners in Conservation award from the Department of Interior.
The Partners in Conservation Award recognizes those who make exceptional contributions in achieving conservation goals through collaboration and partnering. Overall, this award recognizes outstanding conservation results produced either through
- engaging external partners, or
- fostering a collaborative culture within and across Interior organizations.
Bridging the Watershed (BTW) is a unique partnership program of the Alice Ferguson Foundation and the National Park Service for middle and high school students and teachers that provides
understanding and stewardship of natural resources and public lands focused on the ecology of the Potomac Watershed. Using the national parks as living laboratories leads high school students and teachers to become future stewards of national parks and of the environment.
PARTNER OF THE YEAR
2010 Mayor’s Environmental Excellence Award
District of Columbia
AFF received recognition as Partner of the Year for the 2010 Mayor’s Environmental Excellence Award on August 5, 2010. This award
category is presented to an organization that encourages environmental sustainability and resource
conservation among residents of Washington, DC. The Mayor’s Environmental Excellence Award recognizes outstanding businesses and organizations each
year for their environmental stewardship, innovative best practices, pollution prevention, and resource
conservation.
MARYLAND GREEN CENTER
Maryland Association for Environmental
and Outdoor Education (MAEOE)
On June 4, 2010 the Alice Ferguson Foundation’s Hard Bargain Farm Environmental Center was officially recognized as a Maryland Green Center by the Maryland Association for Environmental and Outdoor Education (MAEOE). The Green Center award acknowledges that the work done by Maryland Green Schools would not be possible without the support of mentors and environmental centers that can model and support the process of re-culturing a school to meet the criteria in the Maryland Green School application. This doesn’t happen overnight, and it can’t happen unless the whole community is involved. On average it takes a school two years to effectively fulfill the requirements associated with certification, and our center focuses on long-term partnerships made possible through grants from NOAA BWET, the Chesapeake Bay Trust, and many others. For more on our partnerships, go to our Outreach page.
- More information about Maryland Green Schools and Centers
- Details on HBF's Green Center Qualifications
2010 CONSERVATION AWARD
Southern Maryland Audubon Society
Southern Maryland Audubon Society presented the Alice Ferguson Foundation with the 2010 Conservation Award for fifty-six years of commitment to environmental education on the Potomac.
It was noted that by operating Hard Bargain Environmental Center hundreds of thousands school children and adults have been exposed to "hands-on" and "feet-in" educational philosophy; and that naturalists over the years have been true to the Foundation's mission to "provide experiences that encourage connections between people, the natural environment, farming and the cultural heritage of the Potomac River Watershed, which lead to personal environmental responsibility."
Highlighted were the Potomac River Cleanup as the best known program sponsored by the Foundation, and the innovative Bridging the Watershed program in cooperation with the National Park Service to teach hands-on investigative approaches in national parks.
PAST AWARDS
2009 Award of Excellence, National Garden Clubs, Inc.2007 Northern Virginia Leadership Award, Leadership Fairfax, View Press Release (165kb PDF)
2007-08 Featured Charity, Catalogue for Philanthropy
2007 Centennial Challenge, National Park Service, View Press Release
2007 Regional Partnership Award, Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments
2003 Interpretive Media Awards, Best Web Site, National Association for Interpretation
6th Annual Award for Environmental Sustainability, Renew America