Tobacco Settlement Fund Research Grants

Each year, tobacco use results in more than 400,000 deaths, making smoking the country's leading preventable cause of death, according to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The 1998 Master Settlement Agreement between the nation's four largest tobacco companies and state attorneys general awarded the states $206 billion over 25 years. Tobacco settlement money is used in part to fund public health, tobacco cessation and smoking prevention programs. Grants are available at the state level through the tobacco settlement.

Arkansas Tobacco Settlement Commission

• The Arkansas Tobacco Settlement Commission offers grants through the Child Wellness Intervention Project. According to the commission's website, Arkansas children are the second-most obese in the country. The Child Wellness Intervention Project's goal is to increase children's physical fitness through school programs. Grants provide schools with physical education curriculum, equipment, software and teacher training programs, according to grant guidelines. Public and charter elementary and middle schools with licensed physical education instructors on staff are eligible to apply.

  Arkansas Tobacco Settlement Commission

  101 East Capitol Ave.

  Suite 108

  Little Rock, AR 72201

  501-683-0074

  atsc.arkansas.gov

Golden Leaf Foundation

• North Carolina's Golden Leaf Foundation administers money received through the state's tobacco settlement. The foundation funds, "projects that promise to bring significant economic improvement to the tobacco-dependent, economically distressed and/or rural communities of North Carolina," according to the foundation's website. The Golden Leaf Foundation operates three grant initiatives: the Open Grant Program, the Economic Catalyst Cycle and the STEM Initiative. Open grants fund projects with a focus on agriculture, job creation and workforce readiness in tobacco-dependent areas. Economic Catalyst grants fund projects that support job creation and retention in economically struggling regions. The STEM Initiative funds projects that provide science, technology, engineering and math educational programs to North Carolina students in grades four through nine.

  Golden Leaf Foundation

  301 N. Winstead Ave.

  Rocky Mount, NC 27804

  252-442-7474

  goldenleaf.org

Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust

• The Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust offers grants through the Community of Excellence in Tobacco Control program. The program has several deadlines each year. The grants fund projects that, "plan and implement comprehensive, evidence-based interventions to reduce tobacco use and tobacco-related disease and death in local communities," according to grant guidelines. Eligible applicants include community-based coalitions, tribal groups, nonprofits and government entities with an established track record of providing public health services,. Grants range up to $75,000 per year.

  Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust

  3700 N. Classen Blvd.

  Suite 215

  Oklahoma City, OK 73118

  405-525-6100

  ok.gov