Good afternoon, Teams and Volunteers,
You should have received a link to the FIRST Grant website in the latest FTC Team Blast dated July 14th, 2023 however, to get your attention, I have summarized the grant opportunities specific to Pennsylvania FTC Teams. Please note the urgency in submitting for the Bayer Fund grants (based on team location) as it closes on July 31, 2023.
The various grants stipulate either proximity to a location and/or having a company employee as a volunteer or mentor for the team. In these cases, please solicit your families, friends and acquaintances who may work for the company and sign them up to volunteer for your team to assure eligibility.
BTW, we expect more grant opportunities within PA to emerge. We will let you know of any new opportunities, however, check the website now and often in the future. Please go to the FIRST Inspires site for registration details and forms:
2023-2024 Bayer Fund FIRST® Grant Application
Application Period: July 1 – July 31 – Open to Rookie & Veteran teams
All teams must be located within approximately 55 miles of an eligible site community.
The communities that count in PA are:
Bayer – Myerstown, PA 17067 Manufacturing site
The Bayer plant in Myerstown packages and ships brands like Aspirin, Alka Seltzer and Flintstones Vitamins.
Major towns and cities that should be eligible (not all inclusive):
47 miles: Allentown, PA
20 miles: Reading, PA
52 miles: Bethlehem, PA
23 miles: Lancaster, PA
31 miles: Harrisburg, PA
36 miles: York, PA
54 miles: Norristown, PA
6 miles: Lebanon, PA
44 miles: Hazleton, PA
36 miles: Pottstown, PA
52 miles: King of Prussia, PA
49 miles: Carlisle, PA
47 miles: West Chester, PA
54 miles: Lansdale, PA
Bayer facility in Pittsburgh, PA 15238
Medical device business operations. Collaboration with local universities and colleges including Carnegie Mellon University, University of Pittsburgh, Penn State University, West Virginia University, Robert Morris University as well as Case Western Reserve University, Ohio State University and Rensselaer Institute of Technology. 1900 employees and the company growing thanks to unique culture, advances with AI innovations
Major towns and cities that should be eligible: (not all inclusive)
7 miles: Mount Lebanon, PA
8 miles: Bethel Park, PA
14 miles: Plum, PA
43 miles: New Castle, PA
9 miles: West Mifflin, PA
7 miles: Baldwin, PA
6 miles: Wilkinsburg, PA
26 miles: Greensburg, PA
23 miles: Washington, PA
30 miles: Butler, PA
46 miles: Indiana, PA
Teams should apply and get approval for the Bayer FIRST grant before paying for registration and/or product for the 2023-2024 season. Due to FIRST payment guidelines, if a team pays for registration (checks out) before receiving a grant, their possibilities to use the grant will be reduced considerably! Please click here to learn more about the FIRST payment changes and the grant utilization possibilities. Teams should be associated with a school or 501(c)(3) non-profit organization (4-H, Girl Scouts, Boys & Girls Club, etc.) in order to be eligible. Please register with FIRST before applying for this grant. Every submission requires a team number to process (a temporary team # is acceptable). Only submit one application for each team you wish to be considered for a grant. Applications with multiple team numbers will only be considered for one grant. Teams will be notified of their grant status within 2 weeks of the submission deadline.
Rockwell Automation 2023-2024 Team Grant
Application Period Ends on Mon, Jan 1, 2024 12:00 AM
This team grant opportunity is available for FIRST teams who have a Rockwell Automation employee mentor.
Teams should be associated with a school or 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations (4-H, Girl Scouts, Boys & Girls Clubs, etc.) in order to be eligible.
Teams should apply and get approval for the Rockwell Automation / FIRST grant prior to paying for registration for the 2023-2024 FIRST season. You can register; however, you should not pay for your registration as you may forfeit eligibility for your grant.
Locations in PA:
Exton, PA 19341
York, PA 17402
Eagleville, PA 19403
Moon Twp, PA 15108
Please solicit your families, friends and acquaintances who may work for the company and sign them up to volunteer to mentor your team to assure eligibility.
2023-2024 Lockheed Martin FIRST Grant Application
Application Period: 07/10/23 – 10/13/23 – Open to Rookie and Veteran teams
This grant is open to FIRST® Tech Challenge high school teams and FIRST® Robotics Competition high school teams for the 2023-2024 season that have an active Lockheed Martin employee mentor/volunteer. Please solicit your families, friends and acquaintances who may work for the company and sign them up to volunteer for your team to assure eligibility.
2023-2024 Raytheon Technologies Team Grants
Application Period 06/05/2023 – 11/03/2023 – Open to Rookie and Veteran Teams
Any FIRST team with a Raytheon Technologies (including Raytheon, Collins Aerospace, and Pratt & Whitney) employee mentor and/or coach qualifies for a company sponsored team grant. Raytheon Technologies
FTC SIM Argosy Rookie Team Grant
There are officially less than 80 FTC SIM Argosy Rookie team grants available. This is a $1000 USD grant that can be used to purchase registration & equipment through the FIRST Dashboard. This grant is available for all North American Teams. Details about the grant are below:
Requirements: Only eligible for new rookie teams, in North America, who have not already registered (i.e. who have a temporary team number)
Goal: Find 13/15 lightning bolts in FTC SIM to unlock the grant code. By doing the puzzles, you will learn how to program an FTC robot to do everything from going forwards and backwards to using colour or distance sensors. Once you get the grant code, you submit it and once approved, the money will appear in your FIRST dashboard and can be used to purchase team registration, the controls kit, the electronics kit or the mechanical kit.
Anyone (student/mentor) can complete the challenge to get the grant code
Deadline: There is no hard deadline for this grant but it is limited. Right now we have about 80 left so the earlier you apply for it, the better.
For more information click here.
https://www.firstroboticscanada.org/ftc/sim/grants/
Please encourage any potential rookie teams to apply for this grant BEFORE paying their registration fee. Please contact Lisa Ramraj for additional information.
lisa.ramraj@firstroboticscanada.org
2023-2024 FIRST Tech Challenge Rookie Team Grant
Application Period: 06/02/2023 – 11/11/2023 – Open to Rookie Teams
Eligibility for the 2023-2024 FIRST® Tech Challenge Rookie Team Grant Applicants must be FIRST® Tech Challenge participants Only one application per team is allowed.
Grant applicants must plan to participate in the upcoming 2023-2024 FIRST® Tech Challenge season.
Pennsylvania FIRST® Robotics
FIRST Tech Challenge® Program Delivery Partner
phone: (302) 383-9925
email: ftc@pennfirst.org
Website: www.FTCPenn.org