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Vote Now, Vote Often, Help SAF Be a Winner in the State Farm Neighborhood Assist Program

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Helena, Montana (PRWEB) April 04, 2013

Student Assistance Foundation (SAF) needs your votes — today, tomorrow, and every day for the next three weeks.

As a finalist in the State Farm Neighborhood Assist grant program, Montana-based SAF is one of 200 causes from across the nation competing to receive a $ 25,000 grant for its “A Step Ahead” College Prep Camp for Montana youths in foster care. The 40 programs that garner the most votes will receive $ 25,000 each to support their cause.

Vote for “A Step Ahead” at https://www.state-assist.com/cause/5109/a-step-ahead-camp

today through April 22. Supporters can vote up to 10 times per day.

“Did you know that about 70 percent of foster youths across the nation want to attend college, but less than 13 percent of them enroll?” said Rhonda Safford, camp coordinator. “At SAF’s ‘A Step Ahead’ camp, we are committed to changing that statistic by giving these youths the tools and resources they need to succeed. Receiving State Farm Neighborhood Assist funds would go a long way to helping us do that.”

For the past seven years, youths in foster care from across Montana have gathered at a college campus to experience college firsthand. While at the camp, youths stay in the dorms and receive classroom instruction in areas including money management, relationship-building, finding and maintaining housing, and scholarship searches and applications. Plus, camp participants learn the purpose of Education and Training Vouchers (ETV) for youth in foster care and how to properly complete the application forms.

Finally, campers leave “A Step Ahead” with a free laptop computer to use as they work toward their education goals — a tool that camp organizers view as being essential to success in postsecondary education.

“Getting a college education is very important,” said past camp participant Aurelia Tait, who attends Cottey College in Missouri. “You can’t go anywhere in life if you don’t go to college. College opens up so many doors you didn’t know existed. ‘A Step Ahead’ camp helped me realize that.”

Safford encourages everyone to vote now and vote often.

“We need every vote we can get, and your support will make a big difference in the lives of our campers,” she said.

Student Assistance Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit Montana corporation that provides students with knowledge and tools to finance and pursue their postsecondary education. Funds generated by SAF are returned to Montanans in the form of education grants and public benefit programs – to date more than $ 27 million. For more information, visit http://www.safmt.org or http://www.SmartAboutCollege.org.

State Farm Neighborhood Assist is a crowd-sourced philanthropic initiative that lets communities determine where funding is awarded, exclusively through Facebook. The initiative utilizes the State Farm Youth Advisory Board to vet submissions for causes and allows Facebook users who download the free State Farm Neighborhood Assist application to vote for the final 40 grant winners. The program has been inspired by the incredible number of neighborhoods that are coming together to solve a problem or improve their community.







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The Crucibles Bike Program in a Race to Win $25,000 through State Farm Neighborhood Assist's Facebook Challenge

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Oakland, CA (PRWEB) April 05, 2013

The Crucible, West Oakland’s premier industrial arts and educational space, has been selected as one of 200 finalists in the State Farm Neighborhood Assist™ program. Chosen from over 3,000 submissions, The Crucible’s “Bikes for West Oakland” project is live on Facebook, with all Facebook users eligible to vote for the cause up to ten times a day. The forty causes that receive the most votes by April 22, 2013, will receive a $ 25,000 grant to implement their respective projects.

“Bikes for West Oakland” embodies the heart and soul of The Crucible’s community initiatives. Comprised of Bike Fix-A-Thons, the Earn-A-Bike Program, and Art Bike Frame Alteration classes, The Crucible’s Bike Program builds viable job skills, helps community members gain access to goods and services, bolsters health, and sparks creativity. The program impacts over 700 youth and 2,000 community members in the West Oakland area each year. A $ 25,000 grant from State Farm would enable The Crucible to purchase materials, compensate instructors (many of whom live in the neighborhood), and expand the program to serve even more Oakland residents.

To support The Crucible’s “Bikes for West Oakland” initiative, visit the State Farm Neighborhood Assist Facebook page, install the application, and click on the “Vote” button up to ten times in a row. The voting phase is open from April 4 – April 22 and winners will be announced on April 29.

State Farm Neighborhood Assist is a crowd-sourced, national philanthropic initiative that lets communities determine where grant funding is awarded, exclusively through Facebook. The initiative utilizes the State Farm Youth Advisory Board to vet submissions for causes and allows Facebook users who download the free State Farm Neighborhood Assist application to vote for the final 40 grant winners. The Crucible is one of only three causes in Oakland that are in the running to win $ 25,000, and Bikes for West Oakland is one of only three bicycle-related causes nationwide.







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