State Farm encourages Alabama communities to submit causes for $25,000 Grant

BIRMINGHAM — Starting Monday, State Farm® is accepting ideas from Alabama residents that would help make their community a better place to live. From March 3 through March 23, people from the United States and Canada can submit a cause for a chance to win one of 40 $25,000 State Farm Neighborhood Assist® grants. Last year the Roanoke City Schools received a $25,000 grant and used it to build a community garden to help educate students about healthy eating habits.

Now in its third year, Neighborhood Assist is a youth-led philanthropic program that empowers people to identify the issues they feel are the most important in their communities. The program then connects them with a local nonprofit that can help solve the problem and provides an opportunity to receive one of 40 $25,000 grants.

“People are looking for ways to help their communities,” said State Farm spokesman Roszell Gadson. “Neighborhood Assist empowers individuals to identify problems in their communities and provides funding to help create a positive impact.”

Here’s how it works. Beginning on March 3rd, people are invited to submit causes via the free State Farm Neighborhood Assist Facebook app. When a maximum of 4,000 cause submissions are received (deadline of March 23), the State Farm Youth Advisory Board will review all submissions and identify the top 200 based on a scoring rubric. The top 200 causes will then be announced on April 28 and anyone who has the free Facebook app can vote for their favorite causes with up to 10 votes per day until May 16. The top 40 vote-receiving causes will then each receive a $25,000 grant to help address the submitted cause. The top 40 vote-receiving causes will be announced via the Facebook app on May 27.

For more information on State Farm Neighborhood Assist or to submit a cause, get the free Facebook app at www.statefarm.com/neighborhoodassist.