PSA Video

           With the Final Lexus Eco Challenge approaching, the Enviros created a solution that would tackle the problem of marine pollution on a global scale. By working alongside organizations like Ocean Defenders and the Rozalia Project the Enviros gathered valuable data and created a public service announcement depicting the impact that marine debris has on marine life and their ecosystems. In the video, viewers saw that throwing away trash improperly leads to the storm drains and eventually ends up in the ocean.

Clark Expo

           Every year, Clark Magnet High school holds an expo displaying the works of the different classes and clubs that the school offers. This year, the Enviros of the Environmental GIS class displayed their project in the form of story maps that documented their field trips.  The objective of their projects was to educate the parents and students about the global issue of marine debris. The high concentration of marine debris in the Pacific Ocean proves to be devastating to the ecosystem and animals that live there. To demonstrate how marine debris damages the marine environment, the Enviros, along with a student from the Marine Biology class, created a poster using ArcGIS to map the flight paths of Albatross, a species of birds that mistakenly consumes man-made trash in search of food. Using ArcGIS mapping software, the Enviros were able to pinpoint the Albatross flight paths across the Pacific Ocean. The documentation of the dissecting seminar worked alongside the Albatross Flight path poster and demonstrated the great impacts marine debris has on ecosystems. The Albatross dilemma, along with a previous project on Long Beach with the Rozalia project, were presented at the expo. The Enviros were able to deliver their mission statement by demonstrating through story maps and posters how marine debris impacts ecosystems on a global scale.

Leading Bolus Dissections

           In a recent partnership with marine biologists from the Hawaii Wildlife Reserve, the Enviros received samples of Albatross bolus in order to examine it for the types and quantities of pollutants that they contained. On January 24, 2014, the Enviros team and student volunteers from mentor Ms. Evans-Bye’s marine science class dissected Albatross bolus samples at Clark Magnet High School. Albatross are a species of birds residing near islands and beach shores that often consume marine debris in search of food. As the birds cannot consume these particles, they vomit in order to expel them from their stomachs in the form of a bolus, which is a clump of ingested foreign material. During the dissection, students found a variety of natural objects and man-made contaminants that the birds cannot digest. These objects include squid beaks, plastics, rocks, and fishing line. The most prevalent undigested particle that was found in the bolus samples consisted of plastic particles. Once the dissections were completed, the samples were repacked to be sent to Roosevelt Middle School in order to allow middle school students to dissect the samples.

GIS Day Presentation

           On November 20, 2013 the Enviros presented their projects to the public at Grand Park, Los Angeles. The theme of these projects is marine debris. These projects consist of online story maps and posters that document the projects that the Enviros conducted. The Enviros presented these projects in order to spread awareness of the threat of marine debris pollution to marine life. The story maps contained coordinates of various sites that were surveyed and they include vivid pictures and detailed descriptions of the locations that were surveyed. The Enviros created posters depicting their data and visual images that exemplified the proliferation of marine debris. Charts, tables, and pictures were provided to give the viewers a chance to learn about the growing issue of marine debris in the ocean and to provide them with an understanding of the cause and effects of marine pollution to marine life. Additionally, Enviros members hosted booths where they presented information to the public about Clark Magnet High School, their environmentally friendly methods of using energy, and information about research programs at the school itself. Through multiple presentations, the team was able to convey the information that they gathered from their studies. The presentations was successful in spreading awareness about environmental conservation and in educating the public about marine debris at Grand Park, Los Angeles.  

Ocean Defenders Alliance Assembly

           On September 23, 2013 the Enviros held an informational assembly on marine debris hosted by Kurt Lieberman, the founder of the Ocean Defenders Alliance, an organization specializing in marine conservation. The meeting was held at Clark Magnet High School’s auditorium and participants included science teachers as well as over fifty students from the school. During the meeting, Mr. Lieberman addressed the harmful effects of derelict fishing gear on marine life and how his organization uses community volunteers to locate and remove these hazards. The meeting was held during the enrichment period therefore students voluntarily signed up for this event. Issa Al Hadeed, an Enviros member, was in charge of assisting Mr. Lieberman with his presentation at the event. The Enviros team played a major role in promoting this event by creating posters in order to gain publicity for the presentation.

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.