Justin Crowe, 4-H Youth Development Director and State Leader

Have you ever wanted to help your community with a problem, but didn’t know where to start? Maybe it’s to refurbish a run-down park or to help the impoverished. Now, YOU have the power to fix it. State Farm Neighborhood Assist, a crowd-sourced philanthropic initiative, lets communities determine where grant funding is awarded. Anyone 18 years of age and older in the U.S. can participate. The application is short and simple, and you can learn more by visiting State Farm Neighborhood Assist website. The program officially launches on Wednesday, July 15, at 1 p.m. ET (noon CT.)

With the many challenges facing our communities across the country, we’re removing all cate- gory requirements for submissions this year.

Your application will be judged based on your answers to the following three questions:

• How much does the Cause focus on an unmet need in your community?
• Why do you feel the $25,000 would address the unmet need?

How much of a lasting impact on your community would the grant have?

The submission phase starts July 15 and ends when 2,000 submissions are reached. You can prepare now by going to the website and downloading the submission guide. Each person can submit one cause. All you have to do is submit the cause; you don’t have to “run the program.” The past two years we have reached the 2,000 submissions limit in less than 24 hours. We expect it will go even quicker this year so be ready to submit your cause as soon as the submission window opens!

After the 2,000 submissions are reached, the State Farm Review Committee will score all the submissions to identify the Top 200 finalists.

The Top 200 finalists will then be uploaded to the State Farm Neighborhood Assist website where you can vote for 10 days – from September 23-October 2. Each person gets up to 10 votes per day, every day.

The Top 40 causes with the most votes will each win a $25,000 grant from State Farm!

Winners will be announced on November 4 at the State Farm Neighborhood Assist website.

You, or someone you know, could be the catalyst for positive change to your community cause!