The Enviros Take Action at the Coastal Cleanup

We attended the Coastal Cleanup that was held by the California Coastal Commission at Dockweiler beach on September 22, 2013. The sponsor of the Coastal Cleanup event, Heal the Bay, assists with the event by gathering citizen scientists every year on the national beach clean-up day in order to clean debris from coasts across the nation. Though there were many ongoing beach cleanups that day, we attended Dockweiler State Beach. After signing up, we turned in our liability form, we picked up a bucket, a tally sheet, and we were ready to clean the beach. On the tally sheet, we recorded all types of debris that we found on the beach. Some of the debris included small objects, ranging from bottle caps to baby diapers. While we were participating in the coastal cleanup, we asked the members of the Los Angeles Waterkeepers about various issues involving beaches around the nation. When we were asked “What is the most abundant substance found on the shores of Dockweiler Beach?” the answer was cigarette buds. This is a growing problem in California because trash that is left on the shore of the ocean eventually travels to deep parts of the ocean where it may be consumed by various organisms. Thus, beach attendees should make sure that they properly dispose their trash.

Throughout the day, we walked the beach for hours in search of trash. By the end of the day, we had collected enough trash to fill half of a standard size trash bag. We gave the trash bag to the members of the Los Angeles Waterkeepers in order to weigh the bag. As a reward for contributing to the event, they gave each of us a gift card for a free meal at Chipotle restaurants. Overall, this was a very rewarding experience because we took part in an effort to clean our nation's coasts. As a result of this experience, we look forward to participating in future Coastal Cleanup events.

State Farm Grant


State Farm is a group of insurance and financial services companies in the United States. The State Farm Companies Foundation and State Farm values inclusiveness and diversity. Therefore, charitable funding is intended to advance access, equity, and inclusiveness while discouraging harmful discrimination based on age, political affiliation, race, national origin, ethnicity, gender, disability, sexual orientation or identity, or religious beliefs.
Through its various programs, State Farm provides grants to other tax-exempt organizations. State Farm expects these organizations and their leadership to comply with all laws, to follow high ethical standards, and to have strong internal controls. This includes:

• Mission statement outlining purpose and goals
• Compliance with established guidelines for its charitable purposes
• Business practices that monitor and enforce ethical standards of all persons associated with the organization
• Satisfy appropriate background checks when children are included in programs
• Good stewards of grant funds through internal controls and oversight
• Adequate safeguards to avoid conflicts of interest

Eligible Organizations

Our charitable contributions are awarded to:

• Educational Institutions
• Government entities
• Canadian registered charitable organizations
• 501(c)(3) charitable nonprofit organizations
• 501(c)(4) volunteer fire companies
• 501(c)(6) chambers of commerce

State Farm does not fund:

• Individuals seeking personal help or scholarships
• Religious programs
• Politically partisan programs
• Organizations outside the U.S. and Canada

Request a Grant

The grant application cycle for 2013 funded requests is closed. Funding was disbursed in first quarter 2013.
State Farm grant applications for 2014 funded requests will be available from Tuesday, September 3 through Thursday, October 31.
Nationally, we support communities through social investments and countrywide relationships. At a local level, our company grants focus on two areas: safety and education.

Education Grants

Creating better educated communities includes providing access to personal financial education and job training. Our funding is directed toward:

• Basic Economics
• Budget Counseling
• Employable Skills Training
• First Time Homebuyers Workshop
• Foreclosure Prevention Counseling

Additionally, we support efforts to provide all children with an education that will allow them to reach their greatest potential and prepare them to participate in a nation and economy that continues as a global leader. We fund three types of grants for K-12 public schools.

• Teacher Development
• Service-Learning
• Education Reform / Systemic Improvement

Find more information on our Education initiatives at statefarm.com.