The En/Route Service-Learning Grant project is an opportunity for students to organize a project benefitting their community partner, and is based on a community need they understand and can adequately address. Past grant awards have been between $100 and $400, but that number can be flexible based on the number of grants and the requests. Organizing this project is also an opportunity for deeper collaboration between site supervisors and the students they work with. If you are interested in applying for a small grant, sit down with one of your En/Route volunteers and talk about filling out the application here.

 

Through a generous donation from Kohl's Department Stores, during the 2018-19 academic year, the following grant proposals were funded: 

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• Hannah Fenton was able to help Earthlinks by aiding in the purchase of a new drill press. Earthlinks's old drill press broke and was so outdated that the manufacturer no longer makes the parts to repair the machine. Replacing this tool was vital because it is used to make several of EarthLink's vital products such as bee boxes and wall vase products. 

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• Annika Belle Wuelpern provided a grant to Reading partners that helped them to advertise and hire more volunteers. In order for students to be successful in improving their reading skills, they need dedicated volunteers who can tutor them. One of Reading Partners greatest struggles is having enough volunteers to help students that are in need, and Annika's grant helped to ensure that the program could continue to serve as many kids as possible.

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• Sidney Hutchins applied for and received grant money to purchase children's books for Reading Partners that better reflect and represent the diverse population of students that the program serves.

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• Miya Leonard, working with the Bridge Project at Quigg Newton, received a grant to provide fresh classroom materials such as whiteboards, dry erase markers and clipboards. These supplies are essential for engaging students and making them a part of their own learning process, and for continueing the good work of the Bridge Project

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• Veronica Martinez, Samantha Scott and McKenna Sweeney, working together at Florence Cittenton Services, used a grant of $400 to expand and maintain a large garden plot at the Early Childhood Education Center. This garden is used to introduce young mothers and their children to the joys of gardening and to provide fresh, healthy food that they helped to grow themselves.

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Previously, En/Route Service-Learning Grants have ...

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• Purchased new educational materials including a smart board at CEO (Sadie Claflin 2016-2017)

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• Supported the North High School Honor Choir's travel to Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey and a performance at New York City's famed Carnegie Hall (Fredrika Gilbert, 2014-2015)

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• Funded an expansion to the car seat education program at Florence Crittenton Services allowing them to reach their goal of providing car seats and safety education for all the mothers who currently attend the school as well as incoming students (Katelyn Lenahan 2016-2017)
   

• Funded the creation of an after-school tie-dye program at the Skinner Neighborhood Center (Zoey Sweeny, 2015-2016)
   

• Purchased updated supplies and furniture at the Boys and Girls Club Wilfley Branch (Makayla Welham and Shae McGuinness, 2014-2015)

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• Provided new tools and materials in order to give the members at EarthLinks the ability to show their talent and full potential (Vincent Frazier 2016-2017)
   

• Facilitated the creation of anti-bullying and community art projects through the Art classroom programs at Skinner Middle School (Audrey Poling, 2015-2016)

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• Supported Heart and Hand Center's anti-bullying interactive theater programming, helping to fight bullying through education rather than punishment (Ethan Strouse 2016-2017)

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• Educated the EarthLinks community about the growth and maintenance of microgreens, overgrown sprouts which can be grown and harvested all year 'round (Lauren Bragassa, 2014-2015)
   

• Supported an excursion for students at the Quigg Newton Bridge Project to the Butterfly Pavilion to learn more about their environment and engaging with their surroundings (Luis Vasquez, 2014-2015)

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• Purchased new books for the children at Reading Partners (Virginia De La Torre 2016-2017)

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• Initiated a self-defense class for students at Florence Crittenton High School. This class continues to be taught on account of its success empowering the young women who attend school there (Angelita Trujillo, 2014-2015).

 

This grant application exercise is to prepare students for grant applications outside of the university. Please take the application seriously by planning and thinking ahead before applying. Expect that most students will have very little experience applying for grants, but we would like this to be a learning process, so please help them where possible; however, it is important to remember that this is ideally a student-led-process. If you need assistance with the questions, the Peace Corps Small Grants Program provides a good guide. You can access this at http://www.peacecorps.gov/ggm/smallgrants/.