The Blackburn Institute began awarding funding for Daniel Community Scholars projects in 2006. Since then, individual Blackburn students and teams from the new class have won grants to address a variety of issues including food deserts, education, mental and physical health, disaster relief, the environment, and voting rights.
Recent Grant Winning Projects
2023
- Growing a Skilled Workforce will mentor high school students preparing to enter the workforce with West Alabama Works (Team photo: Saylor Cuzzort, Connor Higgins, Tiffany Hill, EJ Jones, Imani Muse, Bennett Ogle, and Lawrence Perry)
- Leaf Our Streamside Habitats Alone will remove the invasive taro plant with the Black Warrior Riverkeeper (Team photo: Anna Benetello, Camden Hurst, Quinn Lee, Eli Lovell, Will Morlock, and Ethan Pearson)
- Maternity Care Baby Bins will distribute resources to improve infant healthcare in Greene County with Bottoms Up Diaper Bank (Team photo: Emily Adcock, Caley Caldwell, Nick Elwing, Gabrielle Kirk, Cassidy Matwiyoff, Dylan Moore, and Grace Spencer)
2022
- Breaking the Cycle of Bilingual Illiteracy (YouTube video) created a Spanish children’s book collection at the Tuscaloosa Public Library (Team photo: Dillon Cook, Ethan Henry, Paige Hoss, Nick Tolbert, and Mims Williams)
- Classroom Connections assembled sensory kits for classrooms in Tuscaloosa Public Schools (Team photo: Demarcus Joiner, Bryant Long, Miguel Mojica, Charlie Steinmetz, and Claire Tumlin)
- Fighting Child Food Insecurity in Tuscaloosa County hosted a mobile food pantry at Tuscaloosa schools with the West Alabama Food Bank (Team photo: Morgan Cunningham, Raven Hartsfield, Devin Kodsi, Carter Nugent, and Mary Alan Ousley)
2021
- Voting Rights and Education Summit held clinics to help formerly incarcerated individuals restore their voting rights with UA Vote Everywhere (Team photo: Alexus Cumbie, Olivia Davis, Amelia Pugh, Sam Robson, and Seth Self)
2020
- Uniontown Environmental Campaign screened a documentary and hosted a letter writing campaign; delivered bottled water and recycled water bottles in Uniontown with Black Belt Citizens (Team photo: Aaron Frederick, Mary Eliza Beaumont, Philip Harden, Johnny Baxley, and Justin Branum)
- Political and Civic Engagement Classes for Students at Central High School engaged highschoolers in learning about the strengths and addressing issues in their Tuscaloosa community with the David Mathews Center for Civic Life (Team photo: Anna Cain, Ibby Dickson, Patrick Dutton, Garrett Mayo and Jana Venable)
2019
- Foster Care Informational Summit & Roundtable (YouTube Video) educated the Tuscaloosa community and state lawmakers about foster parent certification and support services (Team: Lauren Chambliss, Brittany Hamner, Jade Hill, Jarrett Moore and Courtney Zotaj)
Proposal Templates
Details for full proposals are provided at New Student Retreat and in Student Resource Book. New students should utilize the resources below in the planning phase of their proposals for the Daniel Community Scholars program.
- Poster Presentation Template (.pptx) – PowerPoint slide scaled to correct size for display at the poster presentation session.
- Budget Template (.xlsx) – Excel spreadsheet with embedded formulas for submission with final written proposal.
These resources should be used in the format provided; do not convert to any other formats, such as Google Docs. Microsoft Office software is available for free to UA students from the Office of Information Technology and on student computers in the Blackburn Institute.