Philadelphia Neighborhood Bike Works and the Urban Affairs Coalition each receive a $25,000 grant to make a difference in the Philadelphia community
Philadelphia, PA, (June 19, 2012) - After three weeks and more than 1.2 million votes, State Farm® is proud to announce that
Philadelphia Neighborhood Bike Works’ Earn-A-Bike Education Program and the Urban Affairs Coalition’s West Philly Tool Library will each receive a $25,000 grant to assist Philadelphia communities. Earn-A-Bike Education and the West Philly Tool Library were two of 3,000 Cause submissions State Farm received through Cause An Effect, a crowd-sourced philanthropic initiative that relies on non-profit organizations to create solutions to community issues identified by Facebook users.
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"This funding from State Farm will help us get more youth involved in our Earn-A-Bike programs around the city”, said Philadelphia Neighborhood Bike Works’ Executive Director, Erin DeCou. “With this Cause An Effect grant, we'll be able to teach 60 kids how to build and fix their own bikes and ride safely in the city. Earn-A-Bike really opens up the city to these kids, and State Farm is helping make that possible."
The State Farm Youth Advisory Board, a diverse group of 30 students, reviewed the 3,000 Cause submissions and helped State Farm select the top 100 finalists. State Farm then identified and paired nonprofits with each Cause; the affiliated nonprofits of the top 40 Causes will each receive a $25,000 grant to create and execute a plan to address the Cause.
"State Farm's Cause An Effect Grant is a game changer for the Tool Library”, added Michael Froehlich of the West Philly Tool Library. “We'll be able to expand our hours, hire a tool mechanic to repair our tools and keep them well maintained, and, most importantly, purchase scores of new tools for our members."
From April 27 through May 17, the Facebook community was encouraged to visit the Cause An Effect app and vote for their favorite Cause. More than 38,000 people took to Facebook during the three week period; Earn-A-Bike Education and the West Philly Tool Library were in the Top 30 receiving nearly 40,000 votes combined.
“The considerable amount of votes each received shows the level of commitment and engagement within our community to solve local issues,” said State Farm Northeast Zone Public Affairs Manager, Marcia Thompkins. “We look forward to watching Philadelphia Neighborhood Bike Works, the Urban Affairs Coalition and the Philadelphia community) come together to make their neighborhood safer, stronger, and better educated with the help of Cause An Effect.”
For a complete list of the top 40 Causes or for more information about Cause An Effect, visit the State Farm Facebook Page (http://www.facebook.com/statefarm).
Facebook® is a registered trademark of Facebook Inc.Dave Phillips, State Farm Insurance Media Relations Specialist, (610) 358-7667
The Mission of Neighborhood Bike Works (NBW) is to increase opportunities for urban youth in underserved neighborhoods in greater Philadelphia by offering educational, recreational, and career-building opportunities through bicycling; it also promotes cycling as a healthy, affordable, environment-friendly form of transportation. NBW is a youth development organization in West Philadelphia serving neighborhood youth from 8 to 18.Neighborhood Bike Works is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit educational organization registered with the Pennsylvania Dept. of State. NBW started in 1996 as Youth Cycle & Recycle, a program of The Bicycle Coalition of the Delaware Valley. The group organized as a separate nonprofit in July 1999. For more information, please visit http://neighborhoodbikeworks.org/.
The West Philly Tool Library loans tools to community members so they can perform simple home maintenance, tend their yards and gardens, build furniture, start projects, and learn new skills in a safe and affordable manner. We aim to be a community resource to provide home owners, tenants, long-time residents, and newcomers with the tools (and the knowledge to work the tools!) they need. The Tool Library is a fiscally sponsored project of the Urban Affairs Coalition (UAC). We are located at 1314 South 47th Street, just south of Woodland Avenue in a warehouse on the west side of the street. For more information, please visit http://westphillytools.org.
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Philadelphia Neighborhood Bike Works
The West Philly Tool Library