Application Form

DEADLINE FOR NEXT EMERGENCY GRANTS: Monday August 2nd, 2010

The Gulf Coast Fund is working with great urgency and diligence to identify and galvanize resources and support for coastal communities affected by the BP Oil Drilling Disaster. The Gulf Coast Fund Advisors have already met and allocated $225,000 in four rounds of emergency grants to 37 organizations focused on community-led responses. Special priority is given to organizations engaged in community-led responses focused on: building community capacity; independent monitoring and documentation; providing impacted communities with access to key information and decision-makers; and organizing and advocacy for communities most impacted by the disaster. To coordinate and enhance the work on the ground being led by coastal communities and reduce the duplication of efforts, we encourage joint collaboration across the region. The Gulf Coast Fund will continue to distribute emergency grants for the next few months, and will continue to long-term support for communities affected by this unprecedented disaster.

NOTE: Organizations that have received Emergency Grants are now eligible to reapply for further funding. Please submit a new application.

How to Apply: Email this form by Monday August 2nd to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

APPLICATION FORM
1) Organization Name:
2) Contact Person for the Organization:
3) Phone:
4) Email:
5) Mailing address:
6) Request Amount:
Summary of Request:
(Please explain briefly what your organization is doing in response to the BP Oil Drilling Disaster and how emergency funds would be used.)

If your organization has already received an Emergency Grant from the Gulf Coast Fund, please include a paragraph on what activities have been undertaken with the funds received to date, along with any other information you would like to share.

Request Amounts: Up to $7,000 per organization. Small requests also accepted. Recipients must be 501(c)3 or 501(c)4 nonprofit organizations in good standing.

Gulf Coast Fund Mobilizing Emergency Response
to the BP Oil Drilling Disaster

Support the Gulf Coast Now

The Gulf Coast Fund for Community Renewal and Ecological Health (GCF), a special project of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, has worked hand-in-hand with Gulf Coast communities for the past five years.

Recognizing that this is among the worst environmental disasters to affect the US coast, GCF is already taking action to address the situation and working directly with community leaders and frontline responders. We are receiving regular updates from our partners on the ground, and have already mobilized our Community Advisory Board and provided our first emergency grants to the areas most in need.

The BP Oil Drilling Disaster unfolding in the Gulf Coast is one of the most significant threats to the environment our country has faced in decades. It is not an ‘oil spill’ as it has been referred to by the media. According to scientists at Tulane University, it is a river of oil flowing from the earth’s crust at a rate of 240,000 gallons per day, with the potential to keep flowing for up to 3 months. It will make landfall among some of the most important fisheries and sensitive coastal ecosystems within hours. And then it will just keep coming. Put simply, it has the potential to devastate fragile coastal communities and ecosystems beyond repair.

Action must be taken immediately to protect coastal communities and ecosystems.

Working with our partners on the ground, the Gulf Coast Fund is:

• Providing emergency grants to organizations on the ground engaged in first response work such as:

1. Independent analysis of the chemical and toxic properties of the oil and containment efforts such as dispersant and controlled burn
2. Monitoring coastal areas for the first signs of landfall (tar balls, rainbow sheen)
3. Notifying coastal communities about what to look for, which agencies to contact, and how
4. Monitoring and documenting impacts
5. Providing guidance to responding agencies
6. Assessing economic damage to fishing communities and estuaries

• Providing information to our network of over 150 coastal organizations on what communities should do now to protect their health and respond to the disaster.
• Coordinating communication between coastal community leaders and the US EPA.