State Farm® Invests more than $3 million in Youth-led Projects

Youth Advisory Board addresses social, financial, educational and safety issues with action

Bloomington, Illinois, February 26, 2007 -- The State Farm Youth Advisory Board, in partnership with State Farm, announced today that it will award $3,054,715 for youth-led, service-learning based projects to 44 organizations across the United States and Canada.

The $3 million will be awarded in the following ways:

1. $774,459 will go to 10 organizations for disaster preparedness projects.
2. $639,270 will go to 8 organizations for projects focusing on driver safety.
3. $1,084,914 will go to 15 organizations for higher education/closing the achievement gap projects.
4. $533,780 will go to 11 organizations for projects focusing on financial education.

The State Farm Youth Advisory Board is a diverse group of 30 youth, ages 17-20, who were chosen through a competitive process to lead and oversee this $5 million/year signature service-learning initiative. The Youth Board identified the issues, issued competitive grants and will now provide technical assistance, communication and oversight to site grantees.

“State Farm has a strong commitment to young people and to the leadership they provide,” said Kathy Payne, Director of Education Leadership. “We’re excited to see the results and the positive impact these grants will have on communities across the United States and Canada.” 

Over 360 grant requests were received that focused on disaster preparedness, driver safety, higher-education/closing the achievement gap and financial education.

State Farm supports service-learning because it combines service to the community with classroom curriculum in a hands-on approach to mastering subject material while fostering civic responsibility.  

Visit www.statefarmyab.com for more information about the different projects being funded and about the Youth Advisory Board.

About State Farm
State Farm insures more cars than any other insurer in North America and is the leading U.S. home insurer. State Farm's 17,000 agents and 68,000 employees serve over 75 million auto, fire, life and health policies in the United States and Canada, and more than 1.6 million bank accounts. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company is the parent of the State Farm family of companies. State Farm is ranked No.22 on the Fortune 500 list of largest companies. For more information, please visit statefarm.com^® or in Canada statefarm.ca™.

About Service-learning
Service-learning is a teaching method which supplements classroom studies with hands-on projects that address pressing community issues and problems. To learn more about service-learning visit www.nylc.org, www.ysa.org, www.service-learningpartnership.org or visit our Service-learning page.