HONOLULU, Jan. 6 – Monsanto Fund, the philanthropic arm of Monsanto Company, is launching America’s Farmers Grow Rural Education℠ to aid rural school districts by providing $10,000 and $25,000 grants in 1,245 counties across 39 states.
“We believe our rural communities are the heart of America,” said Deborah Patterson, Monsanto Fund president. “We want to help strengthen local communities and education systems, especially in the areas of science and/or math. A strong science and math education helps build a foundation for many careers in agriculture, but also will help our students to be more competitive with those in larger cities and other nations.”
America’s Farmers Grow Rural Education gives farmers the opportunity to nominate a public school district in their rural community to compete for a grant. Nominated school district administrators can then submit an application for either a $10,000 or $25,000 grant to support a science and/or math educational program by April 30, 2012.
School districts that apply for a $10,000 grant will compete against other school districts that are located in the USDA-appointed Crop Reporting District (CRD); except that CRDs with fewer than five eligible school districts will compete against each other for a single grant. A school district that applies for a $25,000 grant will compete against schools that are located in its state or designated region.
The Monsanto Fund will award 199 grants this year. There will be 177 $10,000 grants and 22 grants of $25,000 awarded. Overall, the Monsanto Fund will donate more than $2.3 million to school districts in 39 states through this program. The America’s Farmers Grow Rural Education Advisory Council will select the winning grant application. The 26 council members are responsible for reviewing the top grant applications to select the winning school.
The program started with a successful pilot in Illinois and Minnesota, in which farmers were given the opportunity to nominate a public school district in 165 eligible counties in those two states. The Monsanto Fund awarded more than $266,000 to local schools in 16 CRDs through the pilot.
Visit www.growruraleducation.com for additional information and to view a complete list of winning school districts.
#30
For more news, go to www.agri-pulse.com