3M Awards More Than $400,000 in Eco Grants

ST. PAUL, Minn. --(Business Wire)--

3M is awarding more than $400,000 in grants to nine environmental organizations for projects aimed at improving science-based environmental and conservation education for youth. Since 2001, 3M's (News - Alert) environmental giving program has invested more than $21 million in sustainability initiatives. 3M Eco Grant recipients are providing environmental programs that help students connect science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education with the world around them.

The grant recipients are nature and environmental learning centers located in communities near a 3M facility. Recipients were selected based on criteria including: their goals to connect STEM education and nature with outdoor learning opportunities, provide education that encourages environmental stewardship, and to increase student visits and teacher preparedness-thereby extending the learning beyond a single visit.

"3M is committed to sustainability, and these educational programs are helping to connect the future workforce to nature and science as well," said Kim Price, Vice President, 3M Community Affairs. "We are proud to support these organizations in their efforts to enhance environmental education, and we look forward to seeing the measurable results of the Eco Grants in action. Each of these grant recipients has demonstrated an outstanding idea for how their program can be served by this funding, and we are pleased to help them reach their goals."

3M's Eco Grant recipients include the Delaware Nature Society, located near the Newark, Del., 3M facility. The organization will apply its grant to its Watershed Stewardship Program, which will design a statewide outdoor watershed experience for seventh grade students. 3M employees with training will have the opportunity to mentor students during the outdoor watershed lesson.

Another honoree, the Chippewa Nature Center, located near the Midland, Mich., 3M facility, will use the funds for its Nature School program, in which classrooms move to the Nature Center for a weeklong immersion in nature and science.

The additional Eco Grant recipients and corresponding 3M facility locations are the San Gabriel Mountains Regional Conservancy, Monrovia, Calif.; Center of Glastonbury (The Connecticut Audubon Society, Inc.), Meriden, Conn.; Chattahoochee Nature Center, Atlanta, Ga.; Huron-Clinton Metroparks Foundation, Detroit, Mich.; Cincinnati Nature Center, Milford, Ohio; Conestee Park, Greenville, S.C.; and Islandwood, Bainbridge Island, Wash.

For more information, visit www.3Mgiving.com.

About 3M
3M captures the spark of new ideas and transforms them into thousands of ingenious products. Our culture of creative collaboration inspires a never-ending stream of powerful technologies that make life better. 3M is the innovation company that never stops inventing. With $30 billion in sales, 3M employs 84,000 people worldwide and has operations in more than 65 countries. For more information, visit www.3M.com or follow @3MNews on Twitter (News - Alert).

About 3M Community Giving
3M is not only a company that creates; it is a company that cares. 3M Community Giving is helping to improve lives in communities around the world. Since 1953, 3M and the 3M Foundation have invested more than $1.7 billion in cash and products to education and charitable organizations. These donations were bolstered by thousands of employee and retiree volunteers. In 2011, 3M awarded more than $60.9 million to non-profit organizations. For more information, visit www.3Mgiving.com.

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