Clorox: "Powering a Bright Future" with a $50,000 grant

Clorox Company is chipping in for a third year to help fund school programs - best of all, their letting us participate. Since October 24, 2011 people have gone to the Power A Bright Future Program website to vote for their favorite school program. All of the schools are competing for four $25,000 and one $50,000 grant. Voting ends December 9, 2011 and the winners will be announced in January 2012.
Click here to get in your vote.

Grant programs are another example of how companies can and have been helping communities. The Power A Bright Future Program is great because it helps fund a cause that is vital - education. Another plus is that it allows everyday people to vote compared to having the company's staff give their opinion on the best program. Letting communities vote really helps the schools increase or start to create an environment of support. If it takes a village to raise a child, then the more collaborations there are that let community members participate, the better.  

Molina Foundation partners with literacy programs and 501(c)3 organizations to promote literacy

The Molina Foundation was established in 2004 to reduce disparities in healthcare and education. If the name sounds familiar, that’s because it was started by Dr. Martha Bernadett, daughter of Molina Healthcare, Inc. founder, Dr. C. David Molina. Since 2003, the Book Buddies™program has been working to increase literacy in children and adults by partnering with other organizations and literacy programs nationally. Through the Book Buddies™ program, the foundation has distributed hundreds of thousands of books and started book clubs at elementary schools.

Molina Foundation’s work through the Book Buddies™ program is a great example of how the health and education sectors can collaborate. What this means for a community and for a healthcare organization is not only less illiterate residents but a decrease in poverty. Literacy status effects a persons life much like the domino effect. Literacy determines our ability to move through the education system and hence our educational attainment (e.g. high school, college degree, graduate degree), what jobs we can get (high or low paying), and ultimately the quality of life we have.