Safe Routes to School $1,000 Mini-grant Call for Applications

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (February 26, 2010) -- The National Center for Safe Routes to School is now accepting applications for up to 35 $1,000 mini-grants for creative, youth-focused ideas that support safe walking and/or bicycling to school. Eligible activities must occur at an elementary or middle school in Fall 2010 and support the overall goal of Safe Routes to School (SRTS) programs -- to enable and encourage children nationwide to safely walk and bicycle to school.

"Communities across the country are finding new ways to make it safer for children to walk and bicycle to school," says Lauren Marchetti, director of the National Center for Safe Routes to School. "These mini-grants encourage communities to get students involved in the effort to foster a culture of walking and bicycling in their own neighborhoods and schools."

The National Center's SRTS mini-grant program, now in its second award cycle, supports creative ideas that support safe walking and/or bicycling to school and are youth-focused. Successful applications will focus on either increasing safe walking and/or bicycling to school or improving the safety of students already walking and/or bicycling to school. Activities may also explore a variety of issues related to SRTS, including physical activity and environmental benefits, distracted driving, personal safety, integrating children with disabilities and community building. Mini-grant activities with high levels of age-appropriate student engagement are encouraged.

Mini-grant applications are available now at www.saferoutesinfo.org/minigrants. Applications are due Wed., April 7, 2010, and recipients will be announced by Wed., May 26, 2010.

For more information, visit www.saferoutesinfo.org/minigrants.

About the National Center for Safe Routes to School
Since its creation in 2006, the National Center for Safe Routes to School has assisted communities in enabling and encouraging children to safely walk and bicycle to school. The National Center offers training and resources to assist communities in successful SRTS program development, and funding the mini-grants extends that mission.

The National Center is maintained by the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center with funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration. For additional information about the National Center for Safe Routes to School, go to www.saferoutesinfo.org.