Urban League of Greater Madison: Step up and vote daily to assist the Urban League of Greater Madison

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 6, 2014

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:

Noble Wray

Urban League of Greater Madison

608.729.1200

nwray@ulgm.org

Ann Avery

State Farm

402-327-4551

ann.avery.maby@statefarm.com



Help Greater Madison win one of forty $25,000 State Farm Neighborhood Assist® grants



Lincoln, NE (May 5, 2014) – Wisconsin answered the call from State Farm® to help create a positive impact in the community by submitting causes as part of this year’s State Farm Neighborhood Assist. Now the top 200 causes have been selected by the State Farm Youth Advisory Board® and Wisconsin’s Urban League of Greater Madison needs your “assist” to help vote them into the top 40.



From now through May 16, anyone who has the free State Farm Neighborhood Assist Facebook application can vote daily for the Urban League’s ADVANCE Employment program and help bring $25,000 to the community!



The Urban League would use the grant to provide training and coaching to help unemployed and under-employed individuals increase their readiness and skills for career pathway jobs in key industries such as health care administration, customer service and sales, information technology, construction trades, and others.



Now in its third year, State Farm Neighborhood Assist is a youth-led philanthropic program that empowers individuals of all ages to identify the issues they feel are the most important to their communities. The State Farm Youth Advisory Board, a diverse group of 30 students who are passionate about social responsibility, manages the program and reviewed each of the 4,000 cause submissions, selecting the top 200 finalists using a scoring criterion they created. The 200 finalists now move on to a public vote with the nonprofits of the top 40 vote receiving causes receiving a $25,000 grant. This year, 41 states and Canadian provinces have causes in the top 200.



“We are so excited to have been selected from among 4,000 different causes across the country,” said Urban League CEO Noble Wray. “The Urban League’s ADVANCE Employment Services are one of the best kept secret in Dane County. Every year, hundreds of families are employed and empowered to be more economically self-sufficient thanks to the opportunities offered through this program.”



The Urban League of Greater Madison has through May 16 to rally votes for ADVANCE Employment Services, with anyone voting allowed up to 10 votes per day. On May 27, the top 40 vote-receiving causes will be announced on the Facebook app and a $25,000 grant will be awarded to the affiliated nonprofits.



“The great thing about the State Farm Neighborhood Assist program is that it gives individuals the opportunity to really think about what can be done to make their communities stronger,” said State Farm Public Affairs Specialist Kelly Savage.



For a complete list of the top 200 causes or to get the free Facebook app, please visit www.statefarm.com/neighborhoodassist.