The Sugar Bush Foundation
Since 2005, the Sugar Bush Foundation has funded partnerships between Ohio University and community organizations that restore the environment, strengthen local food systems, and grow a resilient economy. Within every project, OHIO students are engaged in the region, working on real problems, learning to love this place. The Sugar Bush Foundation is a supporting organization of The Ohio University Foundation.
What We Value
Watch the videos below to learn about our core commitments.
Supporting Campus and Community Partnerships
Engaging Students
Building on Regional Assets
Restoring the Environment
Creating Replicable Models
Current Projects
Habitat Social Enterprise
Explore what Habitat for Humanity does, and the conception of its new construction social enterprise which responds to needs in the region for additional construction services for nonprofits and other programs serving those with the most acute needs in our region.
At a Glance:
Full Story:
Appalachian Ohio Zero Waste Initiative
The Appalachia Ohio Zero Waste Initiative (AOZWI) is an active collaboration in Southeast Ohio between Rural Action and the Voinovich School that is turning waste into resources and changing the way the region thinks about waste as resource or materials management.
At a Glance:
Full Story:
Acceleration of the Circular Economy in Appalachian Ohio
Partners Rural Action, Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service, and OhioHealth have teamed up to give new life to sterilization wrap fabric.
Maximize Solar, Minimize Waste
This project is a collaboration between the Corporation for Ohio Appalachian Development (COAD) and OHIO Mechanical Engineering that builds on the work of COAD’s Ohio Weatherization Training Center.
The OHIO Rural Teacher Partnership
The OHIO Rural Teacher Fellowship, a partnership between Building Bridges to Careers and Ohio University Regional Higher Education, recognizes that successful students, thriving businesses, and strong communities are interconnected—and that educators play a pivotal role in bridging these elements.
Environmental Reporting Beat for Athens County
OHIO’s Scripps College of Communication has established an Environmental Reporting partnership with the start-up nonprofit digital newspaper, the Athens County Independent.
Foodways Innovation Partnership for Southeast Ohio
The Foodways Innovation Partnership for Southeast Ohio project brings together Community Food Initiatives and OHIO's Mechanical Engineering Department, Center for Entrepreneurship, Center for Experiential Learning, and the OHIO Student Farm.
Acid Mine Drainage Paint Pigment
In Appalachian Ohio, many streams are polluted with acid mine drainage running out of abandoned coal mines. True Pigments and OHIO partners worked for a decade on solutions for large seeps, successfully restoring seven miles of stream, but at the largest of these seeps, a new solution was needed.
At a Glance:
Full Story:
The videos linked above were produced by the Barbara Geralds Institute for Storytelling and Social Impact.
