Not so long ago I visited my 4th grader’s classroom to do a presentation at the beginning of the day. As the students came into the room I noticed Nick’s teacher had them go to the board and write down what they had for breakfast. For the students who put nothing she asked if they would like to take a moment to go to the cafeteria to get something to eat. I was touched by her compassion and saddened that these children were going without. The funder today wants to see kids have good nutrition in the morning to help them throughout their day.

The got breakfast? Foundation has a mission to make sure “every child, regardless of background, starts the school day with a nutritious breakfast in order to learn, grow, and develop to his or her fullest potential.” The Foundation has expanded its Silent Hero Grant Program to include participants in the federal Summer Nutrition program.

If you are a public, non-profit private school, or 501(c)(3) non-profit that participates in the national School Breakfast Program you may qualify for the Alternate Meal Service Breakfast Grant. Alternate meal service is defined as either breakfast in the classroom, grab and go or any other alternate site meal service outside of the standard cafeteria lunch line.

Summer grant applications are available now and should be submitted by April 1, 2010. They will be awarding grants between $2,000 and $10,000. For more information you can contact the Foundation at info@gotbreakfast.org".

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Today’s grant gives support to school running programs in an effort to help keep students physically active and decrease the growing occurrence of childhood obesity. The ING Run for Something Better School Awards Program (RFSB) partners with the National Association for Sport and Physical Activity to provide a minimum of fifty $2,000 grants to schools “that want to establish a running program, or expand an existing program, that targets grades 4 through 8 in public elementary or middle schools.”

Application deadline is April 15, 2010. For guidelines and information click here or visit Run for Something Better.

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Samara, Costa Rica

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity, through the generous support of The Improve Group, to travel to Samara, Costa Rica to do a Spanish immersion program at the Intercultura Language School . Samara is a beautiful little beach town on the Nicoya Peninsula, with just the right amount of both Costa Rican and foreign tourists. I never felt as though I stood out too much, but at the same time I got to know many familiar faces during my stay. While in Samara, I lived with a family to ensure that I spent all of my time speaking Spanish. Luckily, my host family owned a restaurant, Jardin Marino, so I ate very well! I took my breakfast of fresh fruits including papaya, bananas, watermelon, and apples every morning with a fresh smoothie of guanabana (soursop) or mango. On some mornings I opted for gallo pinto, a tasty mix of fried rice and beans with scrambled eggs. Generally for lunch I went out with my fellow students and then joined my family for dinner at the restaurant. I enjoyed sampling a wide variety of foods from their menu, including the traditional comidas with rice and beans, salad and some form of poultry, meat or fish. I also loved having plantains on a regular basis; a food that I dearly miss from my years in Mali.

Gallo pinto
Classes were four hours per day, with an additional two hours worth of homework, so I was able to absorb a large amount of Spanish in a short amount of time. One of the major challenges that I faced in learning Spanish, as anyone who is multi-lingual knows, was having French and Bambara streaming through my head. This was frustrating at times, and particularly when speaking to my host family, often thoughts would either compose themselves in French and Bambara or they would actually come out of my mouth that way when I was sure I was speaking Spanish. We had a lot of humorous conversations; luckily my family had a good sense of humor. Over dinner they would often ask me which language was streaming through my head that day?

My good friend from studying in Amsterdam managed to come visit me in Samara as well. He just happened to be on holiday from his native England at the same time. So the two of us spent a nice weekend in Samara and then headed to the capital city of San Jose to meet up with another friend of ours who is Costa Rican and happened to be visiting her family for Christmas. One of my former co-volunteers from Mali (who is also Costa Rican) was also visiting his family for Christmas, so we spent a great day touring the downtown San Jose area and central market.

It was lovely to be able to see so many of my dearly missed friends.
Overall it was a very enjoyable and educational experience! I would highly recommend an immersion to anyone trying to learn a language; it is truly one of the fastest ways to gain confidence in speaking. As I gain in proficiency in my new language I hope to use it assisting Spanish speaking clients who are interested in working with the Improve Group.

Danielle with her Host Dad

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My Uncle recently passed away and one of the more moving parts of his memorial was the honor guard. My Uncle Emil served in the army in World War II and many more of my relatives have given their time to serve their country. In thinking of them, I offer this grant opportunity.

The McCormick Foundation has a Veteran’s Program which” honors the service of America's veterans by supporting nonprofit organizations that assist veterans in overcoming their unique challenges and successfully re-entering life at home and work.”

Nonprofit organizations that apply need to focus on one of McCormick’s key areas relevant to veterans:
1. mental health;
2. family issues;
3. shelter and homelessness;
4. job and career development; and
5. legal challenges facing our veterans

Grant amounts between $5,000 and $25,000 are awarded. Before submitting a proposal, an organization should send a two-to-three page letter of inquiry. To access the guidelines, click here.

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One of the many grants of the Kresge Foundation is called of Healthy Environments and is in support of state and regional efforts “to improve the health outcomes of vulnerable children and their families by funding highly promising, evidence-based projects and programs that have the potential to achieve broad change through replication or increased scale.”

Funding priorities are clean air, safe and healthy housing and schools, and safe, accessible, and inviting outdoor play spaces – all advanced with community engagement, citizen leadership and cross-sector alliances. Funding amounts between $100,000 and $750,000 may be requested by grant seekers for up to 3 year project periods. Applicants may also choose to apply for a one-year strategic planning grant. Online letters of inquiry are accepted any time. For more information, click here.

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One of our client projects has been a community needs assessment for the Minnesota State Arts Board (MSAB). It is exciting to watch the new developments coming from their planning efforts. Today I would like to highlight a number of new grants MSAB is offering.

MSAB has “seven new grant programs that will support arts and arts access, arts learning, and arts and cultural heritage across the state, and will give Minnesotans more opportunities to experience the arts.” The new granting programs fund:

Arts Access
Arts Tour Minnesota
Partners in Arts Participation
Arts Learning
Community Arts Schools and Conservatories
Folk and Traditional Arts
Minnesota Festival Support —

You can learn more about 3 of the 7 programs right now on the MSAB website with more information to come on the rest. Grants have varying application deadlines, so please check their website.

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For nine years MetLife Foundation and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) have been partnering to “to recognize, sustain and share the work of innovative partnerships between community groups and police to promote neighborhood safety and revitalization” through its Community-Police Partnership Awards.

Grants range from $15,000 to $25,000 and are awarded in two categories: Neighborhood Revitalization and Special Strategy Awards. Preliminary applications are due Feb. 26, 2010. To learn more, click here.

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School music programs have really taken a financial hit over the past decade. The Muzak Heart & Soul Foundation would like to help through its Music Matters Grant Program for K-12 school music programs and independent music programs throughout the United States. “Public school programs (qualifying for Title I federal funding and serving a minimum of 70 percent low-income students) as well as nonprofit organizations directly funding music education and serving students regardless of their ability to pay are eligible to apply.” You must apply by February 5, 2010. You can click here for the guidelines and the application form.

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