Applications are now being accepted for the Judy Beck Grant. The grant is available to non-profit groups or individuals with projects focusing on environmental conservation, sustainability, community engagement or youth development. Grant funding will be awarded for a single project or multiple smaller projects. The Beck and Hurvis Families have generously provided the 2023 grant of $13,000.

All submissions are due by 5 p.m. on Thursday, December 1, and winners will be announced on January 20. The application packet can be found at glenviewparks.org.

In 2020, The Beck Family Foundation and Hurvis Family launched the Judy Beck Grant program to support generations of new conservation leaders to continue the great work and legacy of building and strengthening our local community. A dedicated environmentalist, Judy Beck served as a park board commissioner for 32 years, and was a village natural resources commissioner and member of the Glenview/Glencoe League of Women Voters. In addition to her local leadership, Judy also worked at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for 30 years, served as the Illinois Association of Park Districts (IAPD) Board President in 1994 and was named IAPD Commissioner of the Year in 1996.

Projects that received grant funding last year included: Tree-Plenish in the Glenview Community by The Planet Green Environmental Club at Glenbrook South High School; Prairie Fest at Kent Fuller Air Station Prairie; Prairie Grass Restoration and Monarch Butterfly Waystation Garden at Willowbrook and Westcott Schools; and Community Sewing Bee, Dig It! The Secrets of Soil, and Restoration Kids Program at The Grove. Thus far, the Judy Beck Grant program has funded six projects in 2022 totaling $12,250 donated by the Beck, Hurvis, and Straus Families, and six projects in 2021 totaling $9,922 donated by the Beck Family Foundation and Hurvis Family.