Be a Game Changer and Help the West Homewood Community Exchange Win a $25,000 Grant

HOMEWOOD, AL, April 05, 2013 (Press-News.org) The West Homewood Community Exchange answered the call from State Farm to submit causes that would make a positive impact in their neighborhood. Now the Community Exchange needs your "assist" by voting them to the top and bringing money to West Homewood. From April 4 through April 22, anyone who has the free State Farm Neighborhood Assist Facebook application can vote for the West Homewood Community Exchange to help bring $25,000 to West Homewood.

Beginning on April 4, supporters can start¬ voting for the West Homewood Community Exchange by visiting http://www.westhomewood.com and click the VOTE HERE link.

The West Homewood Community Exchange was started by a small-group at Shades Valley Community Church and, along with another initiative called the West Homewood Farmer's Market (learn more at http://www.westhomewood.com), the group set-out to establish initiatives that would build community in West Homewood. The group seeks to build community by answering the question "What is Good?" versus "What is Wrong?" with our community.

The West Homewood Community Exchange is a "time-banking" system where members can offer services, or skills (i.e, a home cooked meal, tutoring, professional services, babysitting, grass cutting, used items, ... "items") to other Exchange members. Each item is given an hour value determined by the member providing the item. Those hours, or hour, is then banked into the Exchange's website and can be "spent" with any other member of the group. The Exchange is built on the premise that it is GOOD to value people's time equally, it is GOOD to get to know your neighbors in a practical and meaningful way, and it is always a GOOD exercise to consider new and innovative economical systems. The West Homewood Community Exchange currently has close to 60 members who have traded around 700 hours since it's inception in February 2012.

The Community Exchange was extremely excited to find the State Farm Neighborhood Assist grant. 3,000 submissions were received through State Farm Neighborhood Assist, a youth-led philanthropic program that empowers communities to identify issues in their neighborhood. At least one cause was received from every eligible state, district and province in the United States and Canada. Then, the State Farm Youth Advisory Board, a diverse group of 30 students who are passionate about social responsibility, reviewed the cause submissions and selected the 200 finalists based on criteria they created.

Once the Youth Advisory Board selected the top 200, the program connected each cause with a local nonprofit that can help solve the problem. Forty-three states and Canadian provinces have causes in the top 200.

The West Homewood Community Exchange has until April 22 to rally votes with anyone voting allowed up to 10 votes per day. On April 29, the top 40 vote-receiving causes will be announced on the Facebook app and a $25,000 grant will be awarded to the affiliated nonprofits.

The West Homewood Community Exchange is currently using an antiquated, but free, online time-banking system that has significant functionality issues. If awarded the $25,000 grant a portion of the funds will be used to build a new online system that can be shared by time-banking systems all over the country, as well as, used to fund projects our group feels will improve our chances of meeting our goals.

The beauty of State Farm Neighborhood Assist is that it places decision-making power directly in the hands of the public," says State Farm spokesman Roszell Gadson. "We hope the 2013 program is able to increase last year's widespread positive impact on U.S. and Canadian communities."

Beginning on April 4, 2013 supporters can started voting for the West Homewood Community Exchange by visiting http://www.westhomewood.com and click the VOTE HERE link.

About State Farm :
State Farm and its affiliates are the largest provider of car insurance in the U.S. and is a leading insurer in Canada. In addition to providing auto insurance quotes, their 17,800 agents and more than 65,000 employees serve 81 million policies and accounts - more than 79 million auto, home, life and health policies in the United States and Canada, and nearly 2 million bank accounts. Commercial auto insurance, along with coverage for renters, business owners, boats and motorcycles, is also available. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company is the parent of the State Farm family of companies. State Farm is ranked No. 43 on the Fortune 500 list of largest companies. For more information, please visit http://www.statefarm.com or in Canada http://www.statefarm.ca.

About the Youth Advisory Board
The Youth Advisory Board is comprised of 30 students, ages 17-20, from across the United States and Canada who serve a two-year term. Their directive is to implement a $5 million-a-year signature service-learning initiative to address issues important to youth and communities. The Board is completely autonomous and youth-driven, and funds projects focused on issues selected by the board that impact youth. It consists of a diverse group of full-time students at high schools and universities. Each member commits about 15 hours a month to the Board and participates in three face-to-face meetings per calendar year. The Board will fund the 40 grants awarded through the State Farm Neighborhood Assist program with a portion of its $5 million funding in 2013. For more information on the Youth Advisory Board, visit http://www.statefarmyab.com.