State Farm's Neighborhood Assist will award 100 grants to non-profits

 State Farm is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2022 by building State Farm Neighborhood Assist bigger. That means more submissions, more grants and spreading good to more communities.

This year, the program will award 100 $25,000 grants (vs. 40 grants in previous years) to nonprofit organizations and schools to help fund neighborhood improvement projects. Additionally, they're doubling the number of accepted cause submissions to 4,000.

“State Farm Neighborhood Assist truly embodies the spirit of what our company has been about for 100 years — being a good neighbor,” said Rasheed Merritt, assistant vice president at State Farm. “We are excited about expanding the program in 2022 to help even more neighborhoods.”

Here’s how the program works:

Submission Phase: Starts Wednesday, Feb. 16 and ends when 4,000 submissions are reached.

Individuals can submit a cause at www.neighborhoodassist.com starting Feb. 16 at 1 p.m. You can prepare now by going to the website and downloading the submission guide. The first 4,000 submissions will be accepted. The State Farm Review Committee will then narrow the field to the top 200 finalists using a scoring rubric.

Voting phase: April 27-May 6

Ultimately, voters will decide which community improvement projects win big. The public will have a chance to vote 10 times a day, every day for 10 days, from April 27-May 6, for their favorite causes from the list of finalists. Voting will take place at www.neighborhoodassist.com.

Winners announced: June 7

The 100 causes that receive the most votes will each win a $25,000 grant. Winners will be announced on Tuesday, June 7, at www.neighborhoodassist.com. Last year, 125,000 people cast more than three million votes in support of their favorite causes, selecting winners ranging from small towns to big cities.

Since the program began in 2012, more than 380 causes have received a total of $10 million to enact change in their communities.