BELTON, Mo. — Safe Fleet and its brands are kicking off the company’s United Against Bullying 2018 Grant Program.

The grant application process began on Thursday and closes on April 23. The program encourages and supports the efforts of people working with students to start new or to sustain existing programs to end bullying in their communities.

The program will award $50,000 to school administrators, educators, counselors, school transportation teams, and nonprofit organizations working with students in Canada and the U.S. Funding is intended for bullying education, kindness initiatives, and social emotional learning to teach and inspire resilience and compassion in students; to increase safety; and to end bullying. Grant winners can elect to receive the grant in the form of a credit for video-based safety equipment on the bus.

The United Against Bullying program is the social campaign of Safe Fleet, a provider of safety solutions for fleet vehicles.

In 2017, the company selected 35 school districts and community organizations to receive program funding, with awards ranging from $100 to $3,500.

“Safety for children and adults continue to guide all of our decisions,” said John R. Knox, chairman, president, and CEO of Safe Fleet. “We are invested in helping to end bullying and count on the fact that every bullying program or kindness initiative introduced to young people will have ongoing positive ripple effects.”

Safe Fleet has 11 divisions in North America involved in its social campaign, each with a coordinator and a team. They offer information to their communities on the United Against Bullying program, its grant, contests, and resources from different organizations committed to end bullying. Many of the teams participate at community events, giving out buttons, stickers, and information on bullying.

Additionally, the United Against Bullying blog features articles about grant winners to inspire program ideas.

The official online application, along with a working PDF file, and the rules and regulations, can be found here. A review committee will select the winning grant recipients, to be announced in May.