Who We Are

The State Farm Florida Service-Learning & Home Safety Initiative is a cooperative effort between State Farm, the Florida Alliance for Student Service, and Florida State University's Center for Leadership and Civic Education.

State Farm

State Farm Insurance and the State Farm Companies Foundation have awarded funds for a third year to Florida to support student advocacy and information campaigns to raise awareness about the importance of building codes and disaster preparation. Florida schools, from kindergarten through higher education, can receive funds to have students learn about these issues and educate their peers, parents, and the public about them.

State Farm is America’s largest corporate supporter of service learning. Through State Farm’s efforts, thousands of students have learned about and engaged in service-learning projects. The State of Florida has supported service learning for 17 years, providing funds, training, technical assistance, and oversight of nearly 3,000 projects involving over 500,000 students.

In a new and groundbreaking initiative—and in the wake of Florida’s being struck by eight hurricanes in 2004 and 2005—State Farm Insurance, the State Farm Companies Foundation, and the state of Florida have partnered to promote, establish, expand, and institutionalize student service-learning projects that focus on the following areas:

• Home and community disaster preparation, mitigation, response, and recovery, and/or
• Raising awareness about building codes: rules, regulations, differences within and among communities, limitations, retrofitting/remodeling, going “Code Plus” (i.e., beyond minimum requirements).

Learn more about State Farm's Community Involvement, Disaster Preparedness, and Education Excellence programs.

Florida Alliance for Student Service

The Florida Alliance for Student Service (FASS) is a coalition of five statewide programs that promote student service-learning and volunteerism:

• Florida Learn & Serve (FL&S)
• Florida Service, Preparedness, and Response Coalition (SPaRC)
• FASS AmeriCorps*VISTA Initiative
• Florida Campus Compact (FL|CC)
• Florida Community/Higher Education/School Partnership (CHESP)

Formed in 1998, FASS promotes the sharing of ideas, expertise, and resources to initiate, improve, expand, and institutionalize student service-learning and volunteerism in Florida. Working together, the Alliance programs increase collaboration, leverage scarce resources, consolidate space and staffing, as well as expand programs, networks and in-house expertise. This kindergarten through higher education collaboration is the only formal alliance nationally where statewide Learn & Serve America, Campus Compact, AmeriCorps*VISTA, CHESP, and Homeland Security service-learning programs are co-located. Administratively, FASS is part of Florida State University's Center for Leadership and Civic Education.

Florida State University's
Center for Leadership and Civic Education

Florida State University's Center for Leadership and Civic Education engages FSU students, staff and faculty in community-based learning through service. For students, the Center serves as the campus clearinghouse for service opportunities in Florida's Big Bend area and beyond. For faculty and staff, the Center assists with strategies to connect community service to classroom curricula through its service-learning program.

The Center provides service opportunities for students and faculty, promotes the linking of service to the curriculum, and collaborates with community-based organizations on community improvement projects and programs throughout Florida and beyond. Thus, the Center aims to enhance the educational outcomes of Florida students with respect to civic responsibility, foster community-based scholarship, improve the well being of the communities that the University reaches, and promote the good will of the University among its constituents.