Volunteer MICHIGAN Funding Alert: Grant Opportunities Available

Volunteer MICHIGAN Funding Alert:
Grant Opportunities Available

Welcome to the Volunteer MICHIGAN Funding Alert! Volunteer MICHIGAN is the newest program of the Michigan Community Service Commission and encompasses a family of complimentary volunteer initiatives. As we strive to address community challenges through service, we hope the funding opportunities below will allow you to engage additional volunteers and ultimately improve the services you are able to provide.

The following funding opportunities are currently accepting applications. The Michigan Community Service Commission (MCSC) compiles these opportunities - offered by outside organizations - and presents the relevant information to you. The MCSC is not offering these funding opportunities directly.

Georgia-Pacific Foundation

The purpose of the Georgia-Pacific Foundation is to help create and fund programs and initiatives that add value to, and measurably improve, the quality of life within the communities where Georgia-Pacific employees live and work. The foundation primarily invests their resources in four key areas that are essential to creating and sustaining strong communities: education, environment, community enrichment, and entrepreneurship. Georgia-Pacific leverages these four key areas ("The Four Es") to impact communities. Nonprofit organizations seeking support and whose projects are aligned with the foundation's four E's are encouraged to submit requests. Consideration is given to organizations who have registered 501 (c) (3) status, as well as schools, and public municipalities. Requests for direct funding and in-kind products are accepted.

The deadline to submit applications is October 31, 2012. For more information on this opportunity, visit: http://bit.ly/5XcRXg.

2012 Subaru Healthy Sprouts Award

Schools or organizations that plan to garden with at least 15 children between the ages of 3 and 18 are eligible for the 2012 Health Sprouts Awards. The selection of winners is based on the demonstrated relationship between the garden program and education related to environmental, nutrition and hunger issues in the United States. Awards will be presented to 50 schools or organizations. Each program will receive: $400 gift certificate to the Gardening with Kids catalog and online store for youth gardening supplies and supporting educational materials; NGA's Eat a Rainbow Kit, full of engaging taste education and nutrition lessons; set of hand tools and three pairs of child-sized gloves; and a Plantcam to document the growth and changes of your garden.

The deadline to submit applications is October 31, 2012. For more information on this opportunity, visit: http://bit.ly/Oi5P3r.

ArtPlace

ArtPlace is a collaboration of ten leading national and regional foundations, eight federal agencies including the National Endowment for the Arts, and six of the nation's largest financial institutions to accelerate creative placemaking across the U.S. ArtPlace believes that art, culture and creativity expressed powerfully through place can create vibrant communities, thus increasing the desire and the economic opportunity for people to thrive in place. It is all about the local. ArtPlace invites Letters of Inquiry from initiatives involving arts organizations, artists, and designers working in partnership with local and national partners to produce a transformative impact on community vibrancy.

The deadline to submit applications is November 1, 2012. For more information on this opportunity, visit: http://bit.ly/pqMqXz.

American Honda Foundation Grants

The American Honda Foundation is supporting broad, innovative and forward-thinking projects that meet the needs of youth, especially minority students. The foundation is awarding grants of $20,000 to $75,000 for projects that emphasize youth education, specifically in the areas of STEM, the environment, job training, and literacy.

The deadline to submit applications is November 1, 2012. For more information on this opportunity, visit: http://bit.ly/UcDhk5.

Laura Jane Musser Fund-Rural Initiative Program

The Laura Jane Musser Fund encourages collaborative and participatory efforts among citizens in rural communities that will help to strengthen their towns and regions in a number of civic areas including economic development, business preservation, arts and humanities, public space improvements, and education. Priority is placed on projects that:

Bring together a broad range of community members and institutions.
Provide the opportunity for diverse community members to work together.
Contain measurable short term outcomes within the first 12 to 18 months.
Include community members actively in all phases of the process.
Work toward an outcome of positive change within their community.

The deadline to submit applications is November 7, 2012. For more information on this opportunity, visit: http://bit.ly/pviUTm.

Nestle Very Best in Youth Program

Nestlé is helping young people who want to make a difference realize their dreams by donating $1,000 in the name of each winner to the charity of his/her choice. Nestlé will also award the winners with a trip for them and a parent or guardian to Los Angeles, Calif. for the Nestlé Very Best In Youth awards ceremony. The trip includes round trip coach air travel, hotel accommodations for three nights, and spending money. Contestants must be between the ages of 14 and 18 years and have parental or legal guardian permission to submit the entry form. Contestants must also demonstrate good citizenship, a strong academic record, and show how they have made a special contribution to their school, church or community.

The deadline to submit applications is November 8, 2012. For more information on this opportunity, visit: http://bit.ly/MYN5ED.

Shell Science Teaching Award

A partnership effort between the Shell Oil Company and National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), the Shell Science Teaching Award recognizes one outstanding classroom teacher (grades K-12) who has had a positive impact on his or her students, school, and the community through exemplary science teaching. Nominees must be classroom teacher with a minimum of eight years of experience (not including the current school year) as a teacher of science, and must teach in a private or public school in the United States, U.S. Territories, Department of Defense schools, or in Canada. The award recipient and two finalists will each receive an all-expense-paid trip to attend the NSTA National Conference on Science Education. The honoree will also receive $10,000.

The deadline to submit applications is November 12, 2012. For more information on this opportunity, visit: http://bit.ly/TxBapX .

Project Ignition Grants

The National Youth Leadership Council® and State Farm® are pleased to announce the availability of $2,000 Project Ignition grants! Public high schools may apply for the grants to address teen driver safety through service-learning. Car crashes remain the number one cause of death for adolescents. Project Ignition is bringing together students, teachers and communities to create change in this area and save lives.

The deadline to submit applications is November 15, 2012. For more information on this opportunity, visit: http://bit.ly/pKcD1c .

Annual Technology Educator Awards

Vernier Software & Technology and the National Science Teachers' Association (NSTA) are currently accepting applications for the annual Vernier/NSTA Technology Awards. The 2013 awards program will recognize up to seven STEM educators - including one elementary teacher, two middle school teachers, three high school teachers, as well as one college-level educator - who promote the innovative use of data-collection technology using a computer, graphing calculator, or other handheld in the science classroom. Prizes for the winning educators include $1,000 in cash, $3,000 in Vernier products, and up to $1,500 toward expenses to attend the 2013 NSTA National Conference in San Antonio, Texas.

The deadline to submit applications is November 30, 2012. For more information on this opportunity, visit: http://bit.ly/8dD6pN.

Citi Foundation Grants Support Affordable Housing, High School Success

The Citi Foundation supports affordable housing efforts, neighborhood revitalization, and programs to help high schoolers find a college or career path. The foundation also supports microfinance institutions and other nonprofit organizations seeking to increase the supply of asset building financial products and services. As part of this effort, the foundation seeks to identify innovative efforts that enhance an institution's ability to achieve scale and financial sustainability and support consumer's asset building goals. Grants will be awarded up to $1.5 million each.

The deadline to submit applications is rolling. For more information, visit http://citi.us/TFgUQe.

Recreational Grants for Golf Programs

The United States Golf Association (USGA) and the National Alliance for Accessible Golf have teamed up to provide grants that encourage increased accessibility for golfers with disabilities. These grants will support organizations that introduce the game of golf to people who otherwise would not have the opportunity -- specifically kids from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. To administer the grant application process for organizations providing golf programs to individuals with disabilities, the USGA has partnered with the National Alliance for Accessible Golf. The Alliance is particularly interested in applications that demonstrate focus on inclusion of people with disabilities in programs that involve those without disabilities, with the ultimate goal of enhancing their inclusion into the fabric of the community.

The deadline to submit applications is rolling. For more information, visit: http://bit.ly/MyZkwV.

Volunteer MICHIGAN is a signature program of the Michigan Community Service Commission, whose mission is to provide vision and resources to strengthen communities through volunteerism.