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Undergraduates in the APPLES service-learning program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will use an $80,100 service-learning grant to launch a mentoring project to help juvenile offenders. The State Farm Youth Advisory Board awarded the grant to the students earlier this week.

Undergraduates in the APPLES service-learning program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will use an $80,100 service-learning grant to launch a mentoring project to help juvenile offenders. The State Farm Youth Advisory Board awarded the grant to the students earlier this week.

The Stimulating Mental Awareness Related to Teens (SMART) project seeks to bring mentors from the University and local high schools to the institutions and homes housing juvenile offenders. This peer therapy program will help reintegrate these juvenile offenders in the local community.

UNC is one of 82 community organizations to receive one of these State Farm grants across the United States and Canada. More than 1,100 grant requests were received by the board.

“State Farm supports service-learning because it combines service to the community with classroom curriculum in a hands-on approach to mastering subject material while fostering civic responsibility,” said Donny Dingess, local State Farm agent. “The State Farm Youth Advisory Board is a prime example of State Farm’s commitment to education, our community and our youth.”

APPLES (Assisting People in Planning Learning Experiences in Service) is a student-led program at Carolina that builds sustainable, service-learning partnerships among students, faculty and communities in North Carolina and beyond.

The State Farm Youth Advisory Board is a diverse group of 30 youth, ages 17-20, who were chosen through a competitive process to lead and oversee this $5 million per year signature service-learning initiative. The Youth Board identified the issues, awarded competitive grants and will now provide technical assistance, communication and oversight to site grantees. Visit www.statefarmyab.com for more information about the different projects being funded and about the Youth Advisory Board.

Photo: http://uncnews.unc.edu/images/stories/news/campus/2010/yab%20004.jpg.  Caption: Right to left, Jenny Huq (APPLES director), Ryan Lei (senior), Kimmie Garner (junior) and Munashe Magarira (senior) accept check from Donny Dingess (local State Farm agent).
APPLES contact: Jenny Huq, (919) 962-0902, huq@email.unc.edu
News Services contact: Susan Houston, (919) 962-8415, susan_houston@unc.edu

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