Mountain View College Receives $28,824 from Wells Fargo Environmental Solutions Grant

DALLAS - July 7, 2014 - PRLog -- Mountain View College recently received $28,824 through the Wells Fargo Environmental Solutions for Communities Program. The college was one of three Dallas-Fort Worth environmental nonprofits that received funds totaling $128,824 from the grant program, which supports projects focused on land and water conservation, energy efficiency, infrastructure and educational outreach in communities across America. The grant will support “living labs” at Mountain View.

“The Living Laboratory concept merges academics, campus facilities management and sustainability initiatives. Students receive real-world skills through hands-on learning opportunities,” said Lori De La Cruz, sustainability coordinator at Mountain View College.

The Wells Fargo Environmental Solutions for Communities grant program began in 2012 as part of Wells Fargo’s commitment to provide $100 million to environmentally-focused nonprofits and universities by 2020. It is funded by the Wells Fargo Foundation with a $15 million, five-year commitment to promote environmental stewardship across the country.

The program funds proposals in select regions that help address the most pressing environmental issues identified by each participating community. Some examples of past grant projects include helping with cleaning and reclaiming areas of the Fort Worth Nature Center and Preserve; and cleaning up the Buckeye Trail along the Trinity River in Dallas.

Administered by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, the 2013 Wells Fargo Environmental Solutions for Communities grants helped reduce more than three million pounds of CO2 across the nation, the equivalent to averting consumption of 8,535 barrels of oil. (Note: Environmental impact estimates from CO2 were calculated by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation using statistics from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration. Environmental impact estimates from trees were calculated by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation using the National Arbor Day National Tree Benefit Calculator​.)

People participating in the program also planted 132,709 trees and restored more than 1,600 acres of habitat. These projects have trained 150 people in "green" jobs and also have engaged more than 689,000 community members in the supported environmental grant programs.

“We believe that helping our communities become more resilient and better stewards of the environment will improve the long-term quality of life for our customers and team members,” said John Gavin, region president for Wells Fargo in Dallas-Fort Worth. “We’re proud to support Mountain View College with grant dollars and support our local team members, who volunteer their time and efforts.”

“Through our collaboration with Wells Fargo and their commitment to community-based efforts, this investment will support a total of 54 projects, and conservation efforts will take place in cities and towns across America,” said Jeff Trandahl, executive director and CEO of NFWF. “The experience will be an opportunity for participants in these communities to personally contribute to a more sustainable future, which would not be possible without Wells Fargo’s long-term commitment to the Environmental Solutions for Communitiesprogram.”

The full list of 2014 grant recipients can be found at http://blogs.wellsfargo.com/environment/.

Details about the program and a link to the 2015 application (available in September 2014) can be found at the NFWF application website: http://www.nfwf.org/environmentalsolutions.

Projects benefiting underserved communities and encouraging volunteerism are given priority consideration.

For more information about the grant or the Living Labs at Mountain View College, contact Lori De La Cruz, sustainability coordinator, by phone at (214) 860-8564 or by email at Ldelacruz@dcccd.edu.

About Dallas County Community College District/Mountain View College

Mountain View College, located in Dallas, Texas, is one of seven individually-accredited institutions in the Dallas County Community College District’s system – Brookhaven, Cedar Valley, Eastfield, El Centro, Mountain View, North Lake and Richland – plus the system’s virtual campus, Dallas Colleges Online. The district enrolls more than 83,000 credit and 25,000 continuing education students during the fall and spring semesters and is among the largest community college districts in Texas and the U.S. The colleges in the system provide educational opportunities for students, who can earn associate degrees and professional certificates in more than 120 programs of study. The district has served more than 2 million students since it opened in 1965.

About Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo & Company  is a nationwide, diversified, community-based financial services company with $1.5 trillion in assets. Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo provides banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance through more than 9,000 locations, 12,500 ATMs, and the internet (wellsfargo.com), and has offices in 36 countries to support customers who conduct business in the global economy. With more than 265,000 team members, Wells Fargo serves one in three households in the United States. Wells Fargo & Company was ranked No. 29 on Fortune’s 2013 rankings of America’s largest corporations. Wells Fargo’s vision is to satisfy all our customers’ financial needs and help them succeed financially. Wells Fargo. In 2013, the Company invested $275.5 million in grants to 18,500 nonprofits, and team members contributed more than 1.69 million volunteer hours around the country.

A leader in reducing its own greenhouse gas emissions and operating sustainably, Wells Fargo has been recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Center for Corporate Climate Leadership, the Carbon Disclosure Project and the U.S. Green Building Council. Since 2005, Wells Fargo has provided more than $28 billion in environmental finance, supporting sustainable buildings and renewable energy projects nationwide. This includes investments in more than 300 solar projects and 47 wind projects that generate enough clean renewable energy to power hundreds of thousands of American homes each year. For more information, please visit:  www.wellsfargo.com/about/csr and the Wells Fargo Environmental Forum (http://blogs.wellsfargo.com/environment/).