Applications for grants of up to $5,000 to support sustainability and community-building projects are being accepted through FirstLight Hydro Generating Co.’s FirstLight Sustains program, with a deadline of April 4.

Municipalities, schools and local organizations are eligible for grant funding, with FirstLight having awarded $141,500 to 31 organizations in the first two years of the program. FirstLight Sustains has provided funding across the Northeast since 2023, with several grant recipients in Franklin County each year.

FirstLight’s Director of Community Relations Andy Brydges explained the grant program is designed to be “far-reaching” in the projects the power producer and energy storage company is looking to fund as part of its focus on community building, climate action and education.

“It’s worked very well to bring in initiatives that are innovative,” Brydges said, saying that the value of this grant program comes from its willingness to fund a wide range of projects, as well as the amount of money it can offer to smaller organizations.

To be eligible, Brydges said the applicants must be located in a town or city that a FirstLight facility services, meaning organizations that offer regionalized services are eligible to apply, even though the FirstLight facilities in Franklin County are located in Turners Falls and Northfield.

In 2024, the Friends of the Franklin County Fairgrounds used a portion of the total $82,000 that was awarded to 18 recipients for a wheelchair-accessible viewing space at the fairgrounds’ grandstand. These upgrades were completed that September, with 12 accessible seats installed.

“This grant has allowed us to offer our performances to an even wider audience, ensuring that all members of our community can enjoy the arts in an inclusive and accessible environment,” Michael Nelson, president of the Franklin County Agricultural Society that manages the Franklin County Fairgrounds, said in a statement. “We were really excited to share photos of the completed project with our community on social media.”

Other recipients to get funding in 2024 included The Brick House Community Resource Center in Turners Falls to help pay for a refrigerated food pantry, and the Children’s Advocacy Center of Franklin County and North Quabbin, which used its grant to help open a new location in Orange in December 2024.

The year before, Brydges said the inaugural FirstLight Sustains program provided $59,500 to 13 recipients, including the Erving Public Library to bolster its pollinator garden and offer programming about pollinators, native plants and invasive species; the Nolumbeka Project for the annual Pocumtuck Homelands Festival; the town of Gill to replace concrete stairs at the Riverside Municipal Building; and The Brick House Community Resource Center for three downtown garden restoration and maintenance projects.

“There’s a need for corporate philanthropy,” Brydges said about the grants, “and we’re certainly happy to be a part of that.”

Applications must be submitted online or by mail by April 4, and the list of grant awards will be announced in May. For more information or to apply, visit firstlight.energy/purpose/firstlight-sustains.

Erin-Leigh Hoffman can be reached at ehoffman@recorder.com or 413-930-4231.