American Legion Foundation Awards Nearly $700,000 in Grants

INDIANAPOLIS, Oct. 18 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Legion Child Welfare Foundation has awarded $666,670 to 21 non-profit organizations.  These grants are awarded to support worthwhile projects that benefit children. Grants for 2011 went to the following organizations and foundations:

American Academy of Pediatrics of Elk Grove Village, Illinois was awarded $14,725 for their project, "Pediatrics Journal-Military Supplement."  This grant will produce a supplement to the AAP's Pediatrics journal to provide pediatricians with an overview of the role of the pediatrician in military medicine.  The Role of the Pediatrician in Military Medicine will be published and distributed to 70,000 subscribers.  The Sons of The American Legion sponsor this grant.

American Legion Children's Home of Ponca City, Oklahoma was awarded $44,000 for their project, "American Legion Children's Home National Awareness Initiative Phase III."  This grant will allow maintaining website, duplication of a 6 minute documentary, print thousands of brochures and purchase new display materials.  The American Legion Auxiliary and the Sons of The American Legion sponsor this grant.

Child Find of American, Inc. of Highland, New York was awarded $45,000 for their project, "Parent Help for Military Families Information and Outreach Project."  This grant will fund the production and dissemination of Parent Help information and outreach materials targeted to - U.S. Military Dads and Moms.  The American Legion Auxiliary sponsors this grant.

Children's Organ Transplant Association of Bloomington, Indiana was awarded $46,500 for their project, "One Million Miracles Initiative."  This grant will update, produce and distribute COTA publicity materials, including public service announcement and targeted communications resources.  The Sons of The American Legion sponsor this grant.

Cornelia de Lange Syndrome Foundation of Avon, Connecticut was awarded $22,295 for their project, "Cornelia de Lange Syndrome Information Clearinghouse."  This grant will create a CdLS Information Clearing house, providing a high-level of current, relevant information to parents and professionals.

Father Flanagan's Boys Home dba Boys Town of Boys Town, Nebraska was awarded $62,000 for their project, "Boys Town National Hotline Public Service Announcement."  This grant will develop, produce and distribute an additional Teen TV PSA in 2011.

Georgia State University Research Foundation, Inc. of Atlanta, Georgia was awarded $28,900 for their project, "Home Safety at Your Fingertips: the iSafety Program."  This grant will produce an interactive iPhone app that will teach parents via video, audio, pictures, and interaction to locate home hazards and remove them.

Kansas Braille Transcription Institute, Inc. of Wichita, Kansas was awarded $6,500 for their project, "Red, Sight and Blue, I Can 'See' Her Too."  This grant will produce and distribute 1,000 packets of educational information of the U.S. Flag and the Tactile/Braille American Flag to blind students in grades K-12 throughout the United States by way of the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children.  The American Legion Auxiliary and the Sons of The American Legion sponsor this grant.

Make-A-Wish Foundation of America of Phoenix, Arizona was awarded $31,572 for their project, "Branding the Adopt-A-Wish Program."  This grant will create promotional materials that will enable Make-A-Wish to promote the Adopt-A-Wish program to donors and potential donors.  The American Legion Auxiliary and the Sons of The American Legion sponsor this grant.

Mercy Flight Southeast, Inc. of Leesburg, Florida was awarded $10,000 for their project, "Project Outreach USA."  This grant will produce promotional materials to health facilities informing them of the services provided by Mercy Flight when planning long distance health care with families.

National Autism Association of Nixa, Missouri was awarded $50,000 for their project, "Autism Safety Toolkit."  This grant will produce the Autism Safety Toolkit and make it available to families free of charge to help them protect their children and prevent future wandering incidents.  The American Legion Auxiliary sponsors this grant.

National Braille Press of Boston, Massachusetts was awarded $13,270 for their project, "Literacy Guides for Sighted Parents of Blind Children."  This grant will produce two guides for sighted parents of blind children that teach them about the importance of literacy, Braille, and tactile graphics, and how to introduce them to their children.

National Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) of Seattle, Washington was awarded $49,000 for their project, "Flex Training: A Blended Approach to Pre-Service CASA/GAL Volunteer Training."  This grant will develop a Flex Training Pre-Service Curriculum that will enable prospective volunteers to obtain over half of their needed training online.  The Sons of The American Legion sponsor this grant.

National Marfan Foundation of Port Washington, New York was awarded $25,000 for their project, "The 'Marfan Question' Web-Based Video Series for Children and Teens."  This grant will produce thirty to forty short (2 to 5 minute) easily accessible online videos about the diagnosis and management of Marfan syndrome and related connective tissue disorders.

National Meningitis Association, Inc. of Atlanta, Georgia was awarded $40,000 for their project, "They Think They're Invincible; You Know They're Not."  This grant will provide a direct-to-parents postcard mailing and radio public service announcements in two additional states.  The American Legion Auxiliary sponsors this grant.

National Organizations for Youth Safety of Gainesville, Virginia was awarded $25,000 for their project, "Youth-Empowered Community Engagement to Prevent Distracted Driving."  This grant will produce a youth engagement guide addressing youth traffic safety.  The Sons of The American Legion sponsor this grant.

Our Military Kids of McLean, Virginia was awarded $50,100 for their project, "Informational Video and Brochures."  This grant will create a video and information brochures that can be used to promote the organization to prospective grantee families and prospective donors.  The American Legion Auxiliary and the Sons of The American Legion sponsor this grant.

Songs of Love Foundation of Forest Hills, New York was awarded $25,000 for their "Songs of Love Outreach Project."  This grant will produce and distribute 20,000 Songs of Love brochures and update SOL website.

The American Legion of Fultondale, Alabama was awarded $12,000 for their project, "The Crippled Lamb Program."  This grant will allow The American Legion to purchase copies of "The Crippled Lamb" for the pediatric units in Alabama hospitals.  The Sons of The American Legion sponsor this grant.

The National Children's Cancer Society (N.C.C.S.) of St. Louis, Missouri was awarded $25,000 for their project, "Beyond the Cure (BTC)."  This grant will create a video to educate and inspire childhood cancer survivors to embrace the future-to recognize their conquests and to successfully handle the challenges ahead of them.

Young Marines of Washington, DC was awarded $40,808 for its "Red Ribbon Project."  This grant will enable the Young Marines to distribute their Drug-Demand Reduction program kits to youth in more than 300 communities.

SOURCE The American Legion