Oklahoma’s Tobacco Endowment Settlement Trust (TSET) announced that communities and schools can begin applying for grants from the TSET Healthy Incentive Program beginning Tuesday, Sept. 15.
The program offers separate grants for communities and for schools. The grants help those entities adopt best and promising practices in tobacco-free environments, nutrition, physical activity and employee wellness.
The grants are open until maximum funding has been allocated. The funds are limited and based on a first-come, first-served basis. The application period closes at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 15.
In FY2020, TSET awarded $706,000 in grants to 23 communities and $709,000 in grants to 39 school districts and 11 school sites.
TSET is funded by a portion of the payments received by the State of Oklahoma as part of a 1998 Master Settlement Agreement. The tobacco industry found guilty of racketeering by a judge, makes an annual settlement payment to the states. On each payment, 75% is deposited in the endowment for investment. The earnings from the endowment then fund grants and programs aimed at improving the health of Oklahomans.
For more information about the TSET Healthy Communities Incentive Grants, visit tset.ok.gov/content/healthycommunities-incentive-grants or contact Connie Befort, program manager, at cbefort@tset.ok.gov.