Healthy Habitat Grants available for Texas schools

Texas Healthy Habitats Grants of up to $15,000 are now available to public and private/nonprofit middle and high schools across the state from the Texas Center for Service-Learning. The grants will support students doing service-learning projects to benefit wildlife and the environment, made possible with a donation from EnCana Oil & Gas (USA) Inc. to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation.

Grant applicants may ask for up to $15,000. The money may be used for supplies, substitutes, transportation and training. Requirements include a progress report and a final report, as well as evidence of impact, a web profile of the work and one day of training for grant recipients in Austin in August, before school starts. Program organizers expect students will likely plan projects in fall and do field work during spring.

Eligible schools include public and private nonprofit schools (grades 6-12) applying to coordinate service-learning projects in a public, charter or private institution, or nonprofit youth-serving organizations that work with public middle or high schools. Schools must have a Tax ID and be a middle or high school located in Texas. Private schools and nonprofits must have IRS 501(c)(3) status. Nonprofits applying for the grant must be working with students in middle or high school levels to qualify.

Grant applications will be accepted through Friday, June 19. For assistance, applicants can participate in webinars, or online seminars, hosted by TxCSL at 3:30 p.m., Thursday, April 23 and 11:30 a.m., Friday, May 22. For more information, visit http://txcsl.org.