ESA Foundation Accepts Grant Proposals, Scholarship Applications

The Entertainment Software Association's charitable arm, the ESA Foundation, will accept funding proposals for its upcoming grant cycle until April 15th. The grants support programs and services that use games for education. Eligible organizations are non-profits that benefit kids from ages seven to 18. In the past, the ESA Foundation has given grants to the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, Save the Children and Computers For Youth -- groups being awarded grants for the first time can receive as much as $50,000.. At the same time, the ESA Foundation says it is accepting applications for academic scholarships for the 2010-2011 school year until May 15, in a program geared to assist women and minority students in establishing game development careers. "Thanks to the generosity of the ESA’s members and their commitment to improving children’s lives, we are able to offer a hand up to America’s youth," says ESA president and CEO Michael Gallagher. The ESA Foundation will award up to 30 scholarships of $3,000 each, 15 to graduating high school seniors and 15 to those currently in college. The scholarships are offered annually to support full-time study at accredited universities in programs like graphic design, computer science, animation, programming, digital entertainment or software engineering. "We are proud to continue this important work in 2010 by providing resources to organizations that educate our nation’s youth and those pursuing careers in our industry," says Gallagher. "To date, the Foundation has raised more than $10 million for geographically diverse projects and programs that make a difference in the areas of health, education, risk-behavior prevention as well as technical and personal skill development," he adds.