2011 ING Run For Something Better School Awards Program

With the goal to empower school age children nationwide with the means to achieve and maintain a healthy lifestyle, ING Run For Something Better, in partnership with the National Association for Sport and Physical Education, has developed a school-based running program. In addition to fighting childhood obesity, research shows that physical activity improves self esteem, school performance and overall well being.

All information is located at the Call for Applications.

The awards program provides a minimum of fifty (50) grants up to $2500 for each school that desires to establish a school-based running program or expand an existing one.

Application Deadline: May 1st, 2011

Health Literacy workshop

What: Promoting Health Literacy through Easy-to-Read Materials
When: Tuesday April 12, 2011 from 10AM to noon.
Where: Middletown Library Service Center.
Who: YOU! Librarians everywhere need this information.
Why: Better service to our most vulnerable and most fervently supportive patrons. Also, many grant opportunities involve health literacy.
How: Register (see below) and show up. Learn!

Program description: Michelle Eberle, Consumer Health Information Coordinator of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine/New England Region will will discuss the challenges of finding understandable medical information for health consumers, the dangers of miscommunication between health providers and patients, the process of educating adults, specific tests to determine readability, and the National Action Plan for Health Literacy.

The workshop will include a hands-on opportunity to critique, rewrite, and create materials that help impart health and wellness information quickly and clearly.

Registration is required. Space is limited; to register, please send an email to Healthnet Program Director Alberta Richetelle: richetelle@nso.uchc.edu.

Include your name, name of your Library, email address, and phone number including a phone number on the day of the workshop.

Directions to the Middletown Library Service Center: http://ct.webjunction.org/510/articles/content/1090620

Healthnet: Connecticut Consumer Health Information Network
"Your Connecticut resource for free, authoritative consumer health information"
http://library.uchc.edu/departm/hnet/
Lyman Maynard Stowe Library
University of Connecticut Health Center

Archived webinar: Meeting the Needs of Our Diverse Clients: Why Culture Counts in Health Care

This webinar (now archived) from the National Council on Aging (NCOA) concerned the increasing diversity of America's older population and stressed the importance of providing culturally appropriate services.

It proved thought-provoking and was time well-spent. While it contains much information geared toward senior care organizations, it is not overly-specific and I think librarians can glean much of value.

My two main takeaway points are:

* Providing culturally and linguistically appropriate programs and services contributes to better engagement of diverse populations, better outcomes, more satisfied clients, and is cost-efficient.

* Office of Minority Health's 5-point Framework for 'Systems Approach.'

The speaker was Marcie Freeman, M.Ed., Director of Outreach and Recruitment for the Institute for Aging Research, Hebrew SeniorLife, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School and Chair of Boston’s Multicultural Coalition on Aging, a group of over 50 organizations serving culturally and linguistically diverse older adults.

Webinar content included:
* What's involved in understanding cultural diversity in the context of aging services and senior care – including the importance of moving from generalizations about “other” cultures to an appreciation for the complexity of every person’s life.
* The topic of “cultural competence” – reframing it from a “curiosity” to an activity that is now an essential part of successful health care practice.
* The implications today’s cultural diversity has for both professional practice and personal attitudes and behavior – and practical next steps organizations can take.

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Upcoming webinars sponsored by NCOA are:

Engaging Leadership Volunteers: Organizational Culture & Structure, Part 2
Learn best practices and tips on how to engage older adult leadership volunteers to increase the capacity of your nonprofit.
March 22, 2011, 3:00 PM ET - 3:30 PM ET.

Engaging Leadership Volunteers: Volunteer Recruitment
Learn best practices and tips on how to engage older adult leadership volunteers to increase the capacity of your nonprofit. Read More
April 19, 2011, 3:00 PM ET - 3:30 PM ET

Engaging Leadership Volunteers: Volunteer Retention
Learn best practices and tips on how to engage older adult leadership volunteers to increase the capacity of your nonprofit.
May 17, 2011, 3:00 PM ET - 3:30 PM ET

CL&P & Yankee Gas - Community Investment Grants

CL&P and Yankee Gas Services provide community investment grants to organizations located in their service areas undertaking projects in the following areas:

* Economic and community development. "We partner with local, state, and regional efforts to promote the economy and create jobs. This includes a special emphasis on small business development, entrepreneurship, new job creation and retention, and smart growth."
* Environmental leadership and stewardship. "We support programs that promote environmental education, energy conservation, alternative and renewable energy, and environmental conservation projects, as well as those that protect or improve the environment."
* Education and workforce development. "We fund programs that help people develop technical skills for existing and potential jobs. We also invest in higher education programs targeted to meet workforce needs."

Visit the website for more information including application links.

Applications for Community Investments grants are reviewed quarterly; 2nd quarter applications must be submitted by April 4. Organizations submit one proposal per year and include all requests for funding in that proposal.

Praxair Grants

With 2010 sales of $10 billion, Danbury-based Praxair is a global, Fortune 300 company that supplies atmospheric, process and specialty gases, high-performance coatings, and related services and technologies to a wide diversity of customers.

Praxair focuses its community support in the areas where it operates and further concentrates on four areas: community health; public libraries; higher education and diversity; and employee volunteerism. Employees participate in fund-raising walks, runs, bicycle rides and other activities to support numerous other health-related organizations in the communities where Praxair operates.

Praxair's "Library Links" program has funded a variety of needs at public libraries in 30 states. Among these projects are updating computer equipment, acquiring new reference materials; sponsoring summer reading programs and literacy courses, refurbishing meeting rooms.

Application form.

Praxair Foundation
The Praxair Foundation supports non-profit organizations primarily in the communities where Praxair operates. The level of support varies depending upon the nature of the project and how closely it fits with Praxair Foundation guidelines.

Preference is given to supporting well-defined projects in the following areas:

* Community service, focused on:
a. Employee volunteer grants - Praxair employees may apply to the Foundation on behalf of the non-profit organizations to which they volunteer their time and talents
b. Health-related organizations and services
c. Public Libraries - through Praxair's "Library Links" program which assists libraries in upgrading their technology, acquiring new materials or initiating innovative programs
d. United Way - matching employee donations

All proposals should describe projects that serve the needs of the community at large. Special attention will be given to innovative programs that can be started and completed within one year of the award. Goals should be clearly defined and measurable. Organizations receiving $25,000 or more are required to submit a report on the project being funded by Praxair no later than one year after the grant is made.

CT Freedom Trail website

Explore over 130 sites that tell the story of struggle toward freedom and dignity of Connecticut’s African American citizens on the Connecticut Freedom Trail’s new website, featuring an easy to use interactive map, historic images from museums around the country, beautiful photographs of important sites to visit, a “kids only” section and resources for teachers and students of all ages.

The Connecticut Freedom Trail was established in 1995 to educate Connecticut residents about local African American History; it consists of 130 sites in 60 towns.

http://www.ctfreedomtrail.org/

ooooh late notice: 1,200 awards of $1K each from Best Buy

Sorry for the last minute nature of this (the applications are due tomorrow Wednesday 2/16 by 9AM), but Best Buy is giving away 1,200 awards of $1K each for high school kids who plan to go to college.

I figure that, at this time of year, most kids have their portfolios in order, and the application seems pretty boilerplate, e.g., copy/paste that stuff in or attach that stuff. Nothing unusual.

Probably take the kid a half hour. For a thousand bucks! Give it a shot.

Best Buy @15 Scholarship

The Best Buy @15 Scholarship Program will award scholarships to students in grades 9-12 living in the U.S. or Puerto Rico who plan to enter a full-time undergraduate course of study upon high school graduation. 1,200 students will each receive a $1,000 scholarship.
Contact Information

https://bestbuy.scholarshipamerica.org/
* Eligibility: Students in grades 9-12
* Grant Deadline: Wednesday February 16th, 2011
* Grant Value: 1,200 scholarships worth $1K each

Student-led video project

This is a charming – and well-done - little student-produced video about a student-led project in the Kent School District of Washington state.

Bridging the Gap offers equal access to technology for socio-economically disadvantaged students, leadership opportunities for student volunteers, and repurposing computers instead of destroying them.

This is a win-win-win that is replicable ANYWHERE.

Cataloging Hidden Special Collections and Archives

Pre-Proposals due April, full proposals due in August.

The Council on Library and Information Resources is now accepting pre-proposals for the 2011 cycle of the Cataloging Hidden Special Collections and Archives grant program. In 2011, CLIR is accepting requests in amounts ranging from $75,000 to $500,000. Applicants may request terms as short as 12 months or as long as 36 months, or any period in between. Projects may begin as early as January 1, 2012 or as late as March 1, 2012. All projects must be completed no later than February 28, 2015.

The Council on Library and Information Resources is an independent, nonprofit organization with a mission to expand access to information, however recorded and preserved. Their Cataloging Hidden Special Collections and Archives grant program awards about $4 million in total grants ranging from $75,000 to $500,000 each.