Dreher High Botany Club awarded $4,320 microgrant from City of Columbia through Bloomberg Youth Climate Action Fund

Dreher High School’s Botany Club has been awarded a $4,320 microgrant from the City of Columbia through the Bloomberg Youth Climate Action Fund.

Columbia was one of 100 cities worldwide selected by Bloomberg Philanthropies for the fund, which provides “technical assistance and funding to allow young people between the ages of 15 and 24 years old to design, produce and govern urgent climate solutions in their cities.” Each city received $50,000 to distribute as microgrants to fund youth-led climate initiatives that meet local contexts and objectives.

Dreher’s Botany Club will use the microgrant money to increase biodiversity at the school by planting native plants on campus. Botany Club sponsor Taylor Knoke says the organization is also working with the city to introduce more biodiversity at a city-run park as well as providing plant beds to grow food crops in a community garden.

Dreher High School’s Botany Club has been awarded a $4,320 microgrant from the City of Columbia through the Bloomberg Youth Climate Action Fund. Top row from left to right are Dreher Botany Club sponsor Taylor Knoke, Dreher students Beatrice Barilla, Eloise Ogden and Adena Weinkle, and Columbia Mayor Daniel Rickenmann. Bottom row from left to right are Dreher students Rachel Schoeman, Berkeley McCants, Aria Le and Micah Roth.

“Receiving this grant has shown my students that, even at a young age, they can have an impact on their community. I am very excited to see the plants grow, but also to see my students grow as they learn more about the environment and make connections with people in our community,” said Knoke.

The Botany Club’s project was one of nine projects and initiatives in the city to be awarded a microgrant.