The American Association of State Compensation Insurance Funds (AASCIF) recognized MSF’s Growing a Safer Montana (GSM) initiative with a 2^nd place AASCIF Community Impact Award. This award acknowledges philanthropic initiatives that advance public understanding of societal issues, problems, or concerns.

GSM was created in 2017 to reinforce the important of workplace safety for Montana’s young workers. There are two-parts to the initiative.  The high school/middle school personal protective equipment (PPE) awards and the college scholarship program.

The PPE Awards
The PPE program aids many cash strapped high school/middle school construction trades (welding, carpentry, automotive tech) and industry classrooms with the purchase of PPE for their students. Through the years, $145,000 worth of PPE has benefited 14,000 students.

College Scholarships
The college scholarship program is a competitive $4,000 college scholarship for students studying at Montana’s two-year trade & industry colleges and Montana Tech students working towards a four-year safety and occupational health degree. Since the program’s start, 87 students have received the competitive academic scholarships totaling $309,500.

Click for more information about the GSM program.