Studentawards.com: Grants programs are on the rise

BY SUZANNE TYSON, PRESIDENT, STUDENTAWARDS INC.

For over 13 years, the Studentawards Inc. mission has been to help students find sources of funding to help them pay for their higher education – the free money that comes from scholarships, grants and bursaries. Studentawards has a research team that digs up hundreds of scholarships, worth millions of dollars, and lists them within our database. When students register at www.studentawards.com or www.boursetudes.com, they will be matched with the awards that most closely fit their personal profiles. One of the biggest aspects of my job is to expand the pool of money sources for students. Every week, I’m out with our relationship development team meeting with Canadian corporations to discuss the ways they can support students (and their parents!) by creating scholarships and other financial awards. It has been proven many times that supporting education provides a positive return on investment for corporations – from good will to more customers and happier employees. The conversations we have are usually well-received, although the economy has recently put a crunch on the availability of funds for these programs.

A new trend we’ve noticed is companies’ interest in exploring school grants

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One brand-new program is the recent WWF-Canada Green CommUnity School Grants Program: “Through the generous support of Loblaw Companies Ltd., WWF-Canada will grant $600,000 over three years, up to $200,000 a year, to Canadian elementary and secondary schools. The grants will help reduce a community’s impact on the environment, increase understanding of environmental issues and solutions, stimulate environmental leadership, and inspire students and communities to take action.”

programs. Scholarships are a great way to reward and recognize individual students, but the financial requirements to create a national program are sometimes too great. A grants program, however, is an innovative solution because the financial awards can benefit one classroom, a school, or even an entire community.

If time permits, a little web-surfing could turn up local grants programs that could benefit your school or community. Most of these programs are run annually, so if you miss the deadline this year, check the site for their next cycle. Here are a few others to investigate: • Green Apple School Program: http://www.fonds-ecoecole.ca/home.en.html • Earth Day Canada Community

Environment Fund: http://www.earthday.ca/ envirofund/default.aspx • Sunlight Green Kids: http:// www.sunlightgreencleankids. ca/en/index.html • bp A+ for Energy: http://www.bp.com/ modularhome.do?categoryId=1060&

The Studentawards team will be out there working to create more of these programs. You can help by asking your local business to create something for your community, or to get their head offices involved in creating more grants programs – it’s literally a win-win!

Kelowna .............................................. 250-763-1555 Penticton ............................................. 250-490-3552 Vernon ................................................. 250-542-9893 Salmon Arm ......................................... 250-832-9818 Big White ............................................. 250-448-7326