California

Six Youth-Led California Programs Receive More Than $325,000 from State Farm Youth Advisory Board

What do Eureka, Los Angeles, Granite Bay, Oakland, Newman, and Newport Coast all have in common? Each is home to a student-led organization that has just received grant funding from the State Farm Youth Advisory Board (YAB).

On August 29, YAB announced – in partnership with State Farm Insurance – the names of the grant recipients for the 2011-2012 year. Six of those grant recipients were here in California, splitting more than $325,000.

“State Farm has a strong commitment to our youth and to the leadership they provide,” said Tom Conley, State Farm California Senior Vice President. “We’re excited to see the results and the positive impact these grants will have on communities here in California.”

The grants were awarded to organizations with projects focused on disaster preparedness, teen driver safety, environmental responsibility, and access to higher education.

A Touch Of Understanding, Inc. – Granite Bay, Calif.
Receiving $78,156 in funding, A Touch Of Understanding is a project providing a character-building, disability-awareness program for school children in the Greater Sacramento area that focuses on disaster preparedness.

Eureka Senior High School – Eureka, Calif.
This Eureka High project focuses on teen driver safety, receiving $82,216.06 in grant funding from YAB.

Newman-Crows Landing School District – Newman, Calif.
The Newman-Crows Landing program received $25,137.95 for their focus on environmental responsibility at the local farmer’s market.

Sage Hill School – Newport Coast, Calif.
Focusing on environmental responsibility at the local Organic Educational Center, the Sage Hill project received $73,901.00 in funding.

Sharefest Community Development, Inc. – Los Angeles, Calif.
Receiving $25,000 in funding, The Sharefest program focuses on Murals for Motivation at the Avalon Continuation High School Mural Project. Their goal is to increase access to higher education and help to close the achievement gap.

Youth Together, Inc. – Oakland, Calif.
Receiving $41,280 in grant funding, the I-AM (Inform, Activate, Motivate) project aims to increase student access to higher education through their College Bound Project.

“I think what State Farm is doing with the YAB is revolutionary – allowing a group of young community leaders to make decisions on millions of funding dollars,” said Ernestine Fu, a California YAB member.

To learn more about the State Farm Youth Advisory Board, visit statefarmyab.com. For a full list of projects that received grant funding from State Farm YAB, visit the Projects page.