2024 Grants: Supporting the Camino Infrastructure
2024 Grants: Supporting the Camino Infrastructure
by Ruben Mendoza, Board Vice Chair and Grants Committee Chair, American Pilgrims on the Camino
American Pilgrims in 2024 approved 22 grants totaling $114,800, the largest one-year total in the history of the organization’s grants program.
These grants support infrastructure projects across a variety of Camino routes as pilgrims seek alternative options to the heavily traveled Camino Francés. Several grants also funded projects to help enable persons with disabilities to experience the Camino. This year’s grant recipients represent a healthy mix of first-time and repeat applicants.
Projects the 2024 grants supported include:
- Structural repairs to albergues
- Kitchen, bathroom and communal space upgrades
- Safety improvements and way-marking on routes
- New bunk beds
- Hot water heaters
- Accessibility programs to support persons with disabilities
View this presentation to read more about the 2024 grants recipients.
Since 2008, membership dues and special donations have enabled American Pilgrims to make grants totaling nearly $700,000. Visit our grants page to learn more about selection criteria, past awards, and more.
Special thanks to the following members who served as 2024 grant application reviewers: Annette Argall, Daniel DeKay, Carlos Mentley, Cynthia Slagter, Miriam Gallet, Dawn Bratsch-Prince, George Greenia, Maryjane Dunn, MJ O’Meara, Herbert Medina, Lynn Talbot, Paco Martinez-Alvarez, Rosa Torres Tumazo, and Sonya Varea Hammond.
Thanks also to fellow Grants Committee members: Joseph McClain, Sarah Pierce Martin, Tracy Pawelski, and Luis Gussoni.
Finally, thanks to our members whose membership fees and generous donations help make the grants program possible.
Your MEMBERSHIP in American Pilgrims on the Camino makes it possible for everyone to make the pilgrimage that is best for them. Thanks, as always, for your support and if you aren’t already a member, you can become one here.