A city-sponsored competitive grant program supports philanthropic organizations committed to environmental education, marine resource protection, and community stewardship.

This year's cycle awarded grants to seven organizations, with individual awards ranging from $10,000 to $17,400. Each recipient was evaluated by a City staff selection committee applying scoring criteria encompassing applicant experience, project benefit, metrics and data, community impact, project budget, and priority alignment. The funded projects and their awards are as follows:

1. Marjory Stoneman Douglas Biscayne Nature Center – Students Explore Green Infrastructure ($17,400)
2. Clean Miami Beach – Educational Programs Inspiring Environmental Stewardship ($15,256)
3. Debris Free Oceans – Transforming Events into Platforms for Sustainable Practices and Community Education ($13,600)
4. Blue Scholars Initiative – 2026 World Ocean Celebration ($12,000)
5. Pelican Harbor Seabird Station – Adaptable Curriculum Focused on Miami's Coastal, Urban, and Migratory Wildlife ($11,435)
6. Surfrider Foundation – Coastal Resilience Through Restoration ($10,309)
7. Food Rescue US South Florida – Reducing Food Waste & Loss Management Using Technology ($10,000)

The 2026 grant total is $90,000 — a reduction from the $107,000 distributed to nine organizations in 2024. The the program is made possible through two specific agreements: the Boucher Brothers Miami Beach, LLC Public Beachfront Concession Agreement and the Waste Contract Agreement. These agreements include value-added enhancements explicitly designated to support environmental organizations and their work in Miami Beach. The grant program is competitive and held every two years.

The 2024 Benchmark: Nine Organizations, $107,000

Highlights from the 2024 cohort's documented results include:

• Clean Miami Beach removed 6,063 lbs of trash across 12 beach cleanup events with 1,220 volunteers, reaching 354,917 community members via email and social media.
• The Biscayne Nature Center hosted 692 Miami Beach school children for full-day immersive nature field trips covering all program costs.
• Friends of the Everglades delivered 8 Everglades Learning Exploration Kits to Miami Beach classrooms, conducted 3 field experiences with 11 fourth-grade classes, and held 14 interactive classroom presentations.
• Miami Beach Fienberg-Fisher K-8 Center built a native butterfly garden with 13 native plant species.
• South Pointe Elementary School reduced single-use plastic at school events by purchasing reusable water coolers and eliminated balloon decorations.
• Institute for Regional Conservation completed 3 ecological restoration events, installed 300 plants of 22 native coastal species, and engaged over 60 volunteers.
• The CLEO Institute built climate literacy at Miami Beach Senior High, reached 608 Miami Beach students through community outreach, facilitated an airboat Everglades excursion for 30 genCLEO members, and engaged 73 teachers through newsletters, curriculum downloads, and climate literacy building.
• Miami-Dade Coastal Cleanup and Recycle Across America implemented Standardized Recycling Signage across 10 multi-family complexes, with standardized labels dramatically improving recycling accuracy and reducing contamination by 90%.
• Debris Free Global developed free short- and long-term sustainability plans for 8 large-scale events and venues, with 100% of respondents agreeing or strongly agreeing the program increased their knowledge of sustainability.