BELTON, Mo. — Safe Fleet has selected the winners of its 2017 United Against Bullying Grant.

The application period for the 2017 United Against Bullying (UAB) Grant program closed on March 31. The annual grant received a total of 121 applications, up 23% from last year, according to Safe Fleet. The company selected a total of 35 school districts and community organizations to receive grant funding this year, with awards ranging from $100 to $3,500.

“The sheer volume as well as the quality of the proposals made the selection of winners a difficult task,” said Bob Parks, Safe Fleet’s vice president of human resources, and UAB executive sponsor. “We hope this funding will help kick-start new programs to end bullying and help those organizations already doing great work to grow their initiatives.”

The UAB program is the social campaign of Safe Fleet, a provider of safety solutions for fleet vehicles. UAB coordinators and teams from divisions of Safe Fleet in Canada and the U.S. were active in outreach for the grant program.    

“We are encouraged by the in-depth planning and programming proposed by grant applicants,” said John R. Knox, president and CEO of Safe Fleet. “It is a testament to the commitment of educators and administrators to help youth navigate the potential dangers of bullying, and empower them to succeed at school and in their communities.”

Grant winners’ proposals included strategies to understand what bullying is and how to handle it from the point of view of the bully, the bullied, or the bystander; programs that teach social and emotional learning (SEL) skills; school-wide awareness events; art and poetry contests; and transportation departments requesting school bus equipment and training on bullying for bus drivers. The proposals were diverse and well-written, with the safety and well-being of students as the clear priority, according to Safe Fleet.

The 2017 United Against Bullying Grant winners are:

•    Banning (Calif.) Unified School District
•    Barren County (Ky.) School District 21
•    Beekman Charter School, Louisiana
•    Benjamin Cosor Elementary School, Fallsburg (N.Y.) Central School District
•    Blenheim Bus Lines, Ontario, Canada
•    Cahokia (Ill.) Unit School District 187
•    Carlinville (Ill.) Community Unit School District #1
•    Chadwick (Mo.) R-1 School
•    Charlotte-Mecklenburg (N.C.) Schools
•    Cottage Grove (Minn.) Middle School, South Washington County Schools
•    Fordland (Mo.) R-III School District
•    Green Forest (Ark.) Schools
•    Helen Keller Junior High School, School District 54, Schaumburg, Illinois
•    High Mount School District 116, Illinois
•    Highland (N.Y.) Central School District
•    International Bullying Prevention Association, Michigan
•    Cass Midway R-1 School District, Missouri
•    Moreland Arts & Health Sciences Magnet School, Minnesota
•    PeaceMaker Minnesota
•    Rachel's Challenge, Colorado
•    Reach Child and Youth Development Society, British Columbia, Canada
•    Sit With Us Inc., California
•    Smithtown (N.Y.) High School East, Smithtown Central School District
•    St. Louis (Mo.) Public Schools
•    Stand Strong USA Inc., DBA Be Strong, Florida
•    Stevens Point (Wis.) Area Public School District
•    Tackan Elementary School, Smithtown (N.Y.) Central School District
•    Tarkio (Mo.) R-1 School District
•    Uvalde (Texas) Consolidated Independent School District
•    Vallo Transportation, New York
•    Washington (Mo.) Middle School, School District of Washington
•    Wayne County Public Schools, North Carolina
•    Worthington (Ohio) City Schools
•    Wynford Elementary School, Wynford Local Schools, Ohio
•    Zadok Casey Middle School, Illinois

Awards and certificates will be mailed in May, according to Safe Fleet.