UnitedHealthcare and Youth Service America are excited to offer the UnitedHealth HEROES service-learning grants (up to $1000) in selected states to support youth-led projects that address childhood obesity. Deadline: January 15, 2009.

These grants support teachers, service-learning coordinators and students in the health professions to implement service-learning projects around childhood obesity and engage children and youth ages 5 to 25 as volunteers. We encourage semester-long projects that launch in February,  and celebrate Global Youth Service Day, April 24-26, 2009. For application materials, visit www.YSA.org/awards.  Questions?  Email healthheroes@ysa.org

State Farm® is now accepting nominations for the 2009 State Farm® Service-Learning Champion Award.

State Farm® supports service-learning as a teaching method that enhances the academic achievement of students while engaging in service to the community. Teachers and parents are usually the primary individuals guiding a young person’s education. Other adults often play a key role in broadening a youth’s formal education through community service-learning activities. State Farm created the Service-Learning Champion Award to acknowledge this non-traditional advocate of service-learning.

Be inspired by the top 100 applicants for the Make It Your Own Awards, now competing for twenty $10,000 grants and four $25,000 grants. The Make It Your Own Awards asks people to look into their communities and find innovative ways to make a difference. To read descriptions for the top projects, visit http://miyo.casefoundation.org/top100?NLC-Monthly&ID=Top100list

Do you have big dreams for your community? The Case Foundation is launching a pilot grants program that could turn these dreams into reality. The Make It Your Own Awards, a new initiative from the Case Foundation, launched on June 26, is about giving grants, tools, and recognition to people who are coming together to discuss what matters, form solutions, and take action. Twenty semi-finalists will each receive $10,000 grants to start bringing their ideas to life. Four final grant recipients will then be chosen by the public using an online voting system. These finalists will each be awarded an additional $25,000 grant. Applicants must be 14 or older and the deadline for applying is August 8th. To learn more, visit http://www.casefoundation.org/make-it-your-own/awards?source=partnerNL_YSA