Monday, April 13, 2009

Good Decision Service-Learning Grants and Projects

MADD and State Farm work together to provide opportunities for youth to make a significant contribution in their school and community by providing funding for the Good Decision Service-Learning grants and projects.

The Good Decision Grants funded by State Farm® offer schools or community-based organizations working with children and youth ages 5-25 in the community the opportunity to apply for funds to conduct a service-learning project on one of two topics:
  • underage alcohol use prevention and
  • vehicle safety.
Grants of $1,000 are awarded annually.

Good Decision Application

SERVICE-LEARNING: More than a Service Project

Service-learning is a teaching method that combines meaningful service with curriculum or program based learning. Schools and organizations use service-learning as a tool to help youth build stronger academic skills, foster civic responsibility and develop leadership skills. It is important the applicant fully understands the service-learning teaching method.

To learn more about service-learning, visit the National Youth Leadership Council at www.nylc.org

Walmart Foundation State Giving Program Grant

Deadline: April 17

This program supports organizations that create opportunities so people can live better. Grants focus on: Education, Health and Wellness, Environmental Sustainability and Workforce Development/Economic Opportunity. Minimum grants are $25,000. http://walmartstores.com/CommunityGiving/8169.aspx?p=8168

Monday, April 6, 2009

Mix It Up Grants

Types of Grants Funded

The Mix It Up Grants Program funds small-scale, youth-directed activist projects that focus on identifying, crossing and challenging social boundaries in schools and communities.

The projects should be:
  • Youth Driven: Youth (ages 13 years and older) must serve as decision-makers in the project. Ideally, the project is created and implemented by youth.
  • Challenging: Projects should challenge the status quo and focus on crossing social boundaries through youth activism and youth leadership development.
  • Creative: Youth and their advisors should step outside of the box, thinking of fresh ways to engage in and encourage socially just behaviors.
  • Collaborative: Projects must promote collaboration across social boundaries — different grade levels, youth groups, clubs or community groups working together. Various adults and community volunteers should be invited to participate.
  • On-Going: The project should be a part of an ongoing effort, or an effort that's just getting started, but will continue.
  • Responsible: Project organizers should be very thoughtful when constructing a budget. Before purchasing items for your project, ask community partners and local vendors for in-kind donations. Also be sure to check multiple retailers for price comparisons and sales for items you must purchase. Partner with others in your community and share project expenses.
Funding limitations
Due to the high volume of materials that we provide each of the 10,000+ schools that participate in the annual Mix it Up at Lunch Day event, we are unable to provide grant money to support a Mix it Up at Lunch Day event at your school or in your community.

Conditions
As a recipient of a Mix It Up Grant, you are required to complete and submit a project report within thirty days after your project completion date. In addition to documenting your grant project for our records, your report may also serve as the basis for articles about your efforts in the print and online publications of Mix It Up or other Southern Poverty Law Center materials.

Notification
Within 8 weeks of receiving your complete application packet, we will let you know in writing if your project will receive a Mix it Up Grant.

If your project is selected for funding, we'll send you a grant agreement by e-mail, which you have to complete and return to us by snail mail.

Once we receive your agreement form in the mail, we will in turn send you a check within three weeks, along with instructions about the required final project report.

Application
To apply, complete the grant application form.

Keep in mind:
  • there is no application deadline.
  • grants cannot be renewed.
  • grants are restricted to one per applicant or school per year.
  • materials submitted for the application and the project report will not be returned.
  • INCOMPLETE APPLICATIONS CANNOT BE CONSIDERED.
Mail completed forms with the required attachments, to:

Mix it Up Grants
400 Washington Avenue
Montgomery, AL 36104

Mix it Up Grants are made possible through the generosity of the Southern Poverty Law Center's supporters.

mtvU Grants: You Can Create Your Own Change

Every week throughout the school year, mtvU in partnership with Youth Venture will help fund a new student-run community service organization, or a new project being undertaken by an existing organization. If you've got an original idea about how to make the world--or your campus--a better place, mtvU Grants can help you make it happen.

Are you interested in launching your own organization to address issues like global warming, literacy, health issues, civic participation, community and social problems - any problem you can identify mtvU grants can get you started to help find a solution. Act now, find out more!

You could receive:
  • Up to $1,000 for your organization.
  • An opportunity to be featured on mtvU News.
  • Exclusive access to helpful resources and tools in cooperation with Youth Venture, including the opportunity to join a global network of other young changemakers on genV.net.
In order to be eligible for an mtvU Grant, you must complete the mtvU Grant Application and mail it in.

You must have Adobe Reader in order to download it — get it here.

Make sure you read the Official Rules and Criteria Guidelines before applying for a grant.

Once you have the application, fill it out completely and mail it here:

Youth Venture
mtvU grants
1700 North Moore Street
Arlington, VA 22209

Don’t forget–to be eligible for an mtvU Grant, your project/idea must be:

  • New - This means that the Venture as a whole or the specific initiative that the students want funded must not already be in existence. If the program has already been started, it is ineligible.
  • Sustainable - The Venture must be sustainable in terms of membership, leadership, and finances. The Venture should be created with structures in place so it has the potential to outlast its founders. It should not be a short-term project.
  • Beneficial - The Venture must benefit the community– either the student community or the community at large.
Also keep in mind:
  • You must be a part or full-time student at an mtvU school to apply for a Grant. Not sure if you attend an mtvU school to apply for the grant. Not sure if you attend an mtvU school? Click here to find out.
  • Ventures can be launched on any topic - the environment, health, education, civic engagement, literacy, children, homelessness, poverty –any topic you choose as long as their is a benefit to the community.
For more information, go to http://www.genv.net/mtvU

Girls Helping Girls' Fund-for-Respect Program

DEADLINE: May 13, 2009

Girls Helping Girls' Fund-for-Respect Program is organizing a "Mirror, Mirror" art contest to empower girls to redefine "real beauty" and widen their perspectives on beauty.

Girls aged 11-19 can submit a visual, literature, or video piece responding to the question, "Who is the most beautiful woman to you?"

General Rules:
  • All entries much be submitted with a completed Entry Form ( Download here, or Email: Emily@empoweragirl.org)
  • All contestants much be 11 to 19 years of age on May 13, 2009
  • By entering, the artist gives Girls Helping Girls permission to use their artwork for promotional, non-commercial purposes.
  • Entries must be original
  • Subject matters must be related to the theme
  • Contestants are limited to a maximum of 2 entries per person
  • All entries MUST be submitted and received by May 13, 2009
Submission:
Contestants can either sent their submission online via email to emily@empoweragirl.org or send it via mail to:
45945 Sentinel Place
Fremont, CA 94539

Judging:
All submissions will be judged according to creativity, originality, personal connection to the theme.

Prizes for Each Category:
First place: $500, media support
Second, third place: display on Girls Helping Girls' websites, certificates

Categories:
1. Visual Art
  • Includes oil, watercolor, or acrylic paintings, photography, drawings, sketches, and collage.
  • All artwork must be flat and two dimensional, and must adhere to a minimum size requirement of 8” x 10”, and maximum size of 18” x 24”.
2. Literature
  • Includes poems, short stories, plays, and songs
  • All poems, short stories, and play must not exceed 500 words
  • All songs must not exceed 5 minutes
  • All songs must be submitted on an MP3 file or CD, along with a lyric sheet
3. Videos
  • Video must not exceed 5 minutes
  • All images and filmed scenes must be original
  • All minors featured in the film must obtain parental permission
See http://www.sisters4peace.net/blog/sejal/win-college-scholarship-entering-our-art-contest for more information.

WKCD Speech Contest 2009: Crisis and Hope

Young people today are living through a time of economic and world crisis. But crisis also gives birth to hope and opportunity. As Graduation Day approaches, WKCD invites you to raise your voice and let others know what matters most to you, in this moment and in the years ahead. Give it your best and you may be a winner, with your voice heard around the world!

DEADLINE: Entries must be received via email before midnight on May 18, 2009

PRIZES
  • Each of the five best speech writers will receive a $100 gift certificate from Amazon.com and their speeches will appear on the website of What Kids Can Do, Inc. (www.whatkidscando.org).
  • Honorable Mention speeches will appear on the website of What Kids Can Do, Inc. (www.whatkidscando.org).
  • Winners will be announced on the website of What Kids Can Do in early June 2009.
GUIDELINES FOR SUBMISSION

Theme of your speech: “Crisis and hope in these trying times.” The best speeches will help us understand this theme from where you stand—your home and community, your worries and dreams. We look for simple, clear language in which your unique version of “crisis and hope” comes alive for your audience in this moment of transition—Graduation Day 2009.

Who can enter: Anyone from age 12 to 19, writing in English. (You don’t have to be an actual graduation speaker to submit your speech!)

Authorship: The speech must be your own work. Any words you include by someone else must be properly acknowledged.

Length: Your speech must consist of at least 300 words and no more than 600 words.

Format: Your speech must be typed. At the top of your speech, write:
  • Your name
  • Your date of birth
  • Your school name and address
  • Your grade in school
  • Your email address
  • Your telephone contact number.
  • The name and contact information of one teacher at your school who can verify that the work is yours.
Permission to reprint: By submitting your speech, you agree that What Kids Can Do (WKCD) may publish all or part of your speech on its website and identify you as the writer.

Sending in your speech: Submit your speech before midnight on May 18, 2009, in one of two ways:
1. Copy and paste it into the body of an email message, then send it to gradspeech@whatkidscando.org
2. Attach your speech as a Word document to an email message, then send it to gradspeech@whatkidscando.org

For more information go to http://www.wkcd.org/featurestories/2009/03_WKCD%20speech%20contest/index.html

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Target Early Childhood Reading Grants

Reading is an essential element in a child’s educational process. Reading grants are awarded to schools, libraries and nonprofit organizations, supporting programs such as weekend book clubs and after-school reading programs that foster a love of reading and encourage children, from birth through age 9, to read together with their families.

Target will accept grant applications online between March 1 and May 31, 2009, for programs taking place between October 1, 2009, and September 30, 2010. You will receive notification about your request by September 30, 2009. Most grants average between $1,000 and $3,000.

You may apply for grants from March 1 through May 31.

Go to http://sites.target.com/site/en/company/page.jsp?contentId=WCMP04-031821.

Recovery Act National Youth Mentoring Programs

National nonprofit organizations may apply for funding under the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention's FY 09 Recovery Act National Youth Mentoring Programs, part of the economic stimulus package recently passed by Congress.

Applicants are invited to "propose initiatives ready for implementation that will assist in the development and maturity of community programs to provide mentoring services to populations that are underserved due to location, shortage of mentors, special physical or mental challenges of the targeted population, or other such situations identified by the community in need of mentoring services."

Programs that have a national scope and impact on combating juvenile delinquency, reducing the victimization of children, and improving the juvenile justice system through mentoring activities may apply. Groups will be expected to award 90 percent of the funding to subgrantees in at least 75 percent of the U.S. states.

Application deadline is April 20. For more details, see http://ojjdp.ncjrs.gov/grants/solicitations/FY2009/ARRANationalYouthMentoring.pdf.

Action for Healthy Kids, School Breakfast Expansion Grant

With generous support from the Kellogg’s Corporate Citizenship Fund, Action for Healthy Kids is offering school buildings that currently participate in the School Breakfast Program with greater than 50% eligibility for free and reduced-price meals the opportunity to increase their average daily student participation through the implementation of alternative breakfast programs, innovative marketing and promotion practices, and/or enhancement of the school breakfast experience through educational enrichment activities.

The goal of this grant program is to increase average daily breakfast participation by 25 percent or more for the duration of the grant period.

Funding awards will range between $500 and $2000. The amount of the grant award will be based on building enrollment, type of project, potential increases in participation and desired use of funds. All school buildings meeting the grant requirements will be eligible for funding however priority selection will be given to school buildings in states with low average daily student participation in school breakfast as a percentage of school lunch participation. According to FRAC’s 2007-2008 School Breakfast Scorecard those states are: South Dakota, Minnesota, Ohio, Massachusetts, Illinois, Alaska, Nebraska, New Jersey, Wisconsin, and Connecticut.

- Proposals must be received by Action for Healthy Kids by Friday, April 10, 2009
- Funded school buildings will be notified on Monday, May 4, 2009
- Project activities must be completed between September 1, 2009 and May 30, 2010
- Mid Project Report – Friday December 18, 2009
- Final Evaluation and Report – June 15, 2010

See http://www.actionforhealthykids.org/UploadFiles/School%20Breakfast%20RFP%20Final.pdf for more information.

National STEM Education Distributed Learning Grants

Full proposal deadline date: April 15, 2009

This program aims to establish a national network of learning environments and resources for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education at all levels. The program has four tracks: Pathways projects are expected to provide stewardship for the content and services needed by major communities of learners. Targeted research will focus primarily on educational impact. Services projects are expected to develop services that support users and resource collection providers that enhance the impact, efficiency, and value of the NSDL network. Projects that explore specific topics that have immediate applicability to collections, services, and other aspects of the development of the NSDL network, which were submitted as Targeted Research under previous solicitations, should now be submitted as small grants to the Services section of the program. The existing NSDL Resource Center will provide collaboration assistance across all projects; undertake strategic partnership development on behalf of projects particularly with respect to non-academic entities; coordinate and, in some cases, perform thematic research and evaluation studies related to the program; synthesize findings across the portfolio; and disseminate findings of the accomplishments of the NSDL program. In FY2009, the program will accept proposals for large grants in 1) the Pathways track, 2) Pathways - II, 3) specific sub-tracks of Services, and 4) Targeted Research . In all tracks, the program will also accept proposals for small grants that extend or enhance results from existing services, collections, or targeted research activity so as to enlarge the user audience for the NSDL network or improve capabilities for the user.

Go to http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=5487&org=NSF&sel_org=NSF&from=fund for more information.