Ford and Green Festival Give Organizations a Chance to Make a Difference with Community Green Grants

*Ford and the Green Festival are teaming up to invite organizations and communities to propose innovative and impactful ideas that would improve the environment in their local communities with a $5,000 Community Green Grant
*The Green Festival and Community Green Grant will travel to Chicago, Seattle, New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco this year. Entries for the grant to be awarded at the Chicago Green Festival are due by May 7
*As a corporate innovator partner of all five 2011 Green Festivals being held across the U.S., Ford will have a presence at each event that includes a display at the Ford Pavilion, test drives of hybrids and electrified vehicles, and a Ford executive speaker on the company’s sustainability and green vehicle strategy

Dearborn, Mich., – Ford and the Green Festival have teamed up to find and fund the most innovative projects to improve the environment in five U.S. cities. The Community Green Grant program challenges organizations and individuals to propose impactful ideas that would improve the environment in their local communities prior to the start of a local Green Festival. Attendees at the Green Festival in each city will vote to select the project proposal that will receive the $5,000 Community Green Grant.

“Being an environmentally responsible company is a key part of the Ford corporate identity,” said John Viera, Ford director of Sustainability & Vehicle Environmental Matters. “By working with the Green Festival, we are able to extend this sustainable thinking beyond Ford and do something tangible and permanent to improve the local community following each event.”

Before each event opening, a panel from Green Festival and Ford will select a group of Community Green Grant finalists from among the proposals submitted. During the Green Festival, the finalists’ project proposals will be presented in the Ford Pavilion, with the winner of the Community Green Grant chosen by a vote of festival attendees.

“We’re so pleased to be partnering with Ford to bring the Community Green Grant program to all of the Green Festival cities,” said Greg Roberts, Green Festival producer. “I am confident we will receive some very creative project proposals from the many people and organizations who participate in the events.”

Attendees will vote on the grant finalists throughout the two-day event. The votes will be tallied on-site and the winning project proposal will be announced on the final afternoon of the Green Festival.

“The Green Festival is a great fit for Ford because it’s a way to connect with the most passionate and environmentally concerned consumers,” said Viera. “We can share our sustainability strategy and have a two-way dialogue about how we can work together to improve the environment.”

As a corporate innovator partner, Ford will have a presence at each of the Green Festivals that includes a display at the Ford Pavilion, test drives of hybrids and electrified vehicles, and a presentation by a Ford executive speaker who will discuss the company’s sustainability and green vehicle strategy.

Sustainable ideas
The first $5,000 Community Green Grant will be awarded during the Chicago Green Festival, May 14-15. Later in 2011, the Green Festival and Community Green Grant will travel to Seattle, New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Entries for each festival must be received by the following dates:

Chicago, May 7
Seattle, May 14
New York, Sept. 24
Los Angeles, Oct. 22
San Francisco, Nov. 5


Blueprint for Sustainability
Ford’s corporate sustainability strategy encompasses a wide range of efforts, such as the improved energy efficiency of its facilities around the world, the reduction of CO2 emissions of its vehicles, and accelerated development of more fuel-efficient and alternative-fuel vehicles.

About Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn, Mich., manufactures or distributes automobiles across six continents. With about 166,000 employees and about 70 plants worldwide, the company’s automotive brands include Ford and Lincoln. The company provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company. For more information regarding Ford’s products, please visit www.ford.com.

About Green Festival
At Green Festival®, a project of Green America and Global Exchange, we’re celebrating what’s working in our communities and around the world - for people, business and the environment. Think of Green Festival® as a walk through a sustainable community. It begins with finding solutions to help make our lives healthier-socially, economically and environmentally. Individuals, business and community leaders come together to discuss critical issues that impact us at home and abroad. Organizations and businesses showcase programs and products that restore the planet and all that inhabit it. Neighbor-to-neighbor connections are formed and skills are shared to empower people to create positive change in the world. www.greenfestivals.org