Grant Opportunities

Funding Support to Promote Healthy Students in Louisiana Schools

Well-Ahead Louisiana connects schools with grant providers that support initiatives centered around improving student nutrition and physical activity to help schools create and maintain healthy learning environments. If your school needs funding assistance, there are many different grant opportunities available to help make the healthy choice the easy choice for your students.

Physical Activity Grants

Healthy Schools Mini-Grant

Well-Ahead created the Healthy Schools Mini-Grant to help schools encourage their students to get the recommended 60 minutes or more of daily physical activity. The Healthy Schools Mini-Grant opportunity provides up to $3,000 to schools to increase physical activity for students. This grant opportunity is available to elementary, middle, and high schools.

Fuel Up to Play 60 Grants

A Fuel Up to Play 60 grant can help your school meet its wellness goals by improving the healthy eating and physical activity opportunities you provide students. The program encourages students to consume nutrient-rich foods and achieve at least 60 minutes of physical activity each day. It was launched by the National Football League (NFL) and National Dairy Council (NDC), in collaboration with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).


Good Sports Foundation Grants

The Good Sports Foundation believes in the positive impact that sports and physical activity can have in a child’s life. They partner with the sporting goods industry to provide athletic gear, apparel and footwear to youth organizations like schools. Through a Good Sports Foundation grant, your school can get the gear it needs, reduce overall costs and create new opportunities in physical activity for the students you serve.

KaBoom! Creative Play Grants

KaBoom! and its funding partners offer grants to schools to build playspaces for children in communities facing disinvestment. Through an Imagination Playground™ or Rigamajig® grant, your school can revitalize your playground into a space that provides every child with the opportunity to thrive physically, socially and emotionally.


Active Schools Grants

Active Schools is a network of parents, educators, organizations and advocates with a passion for prioritizing physical activity in schools to help students be active, healthy and happy. Through an Active Schools grant, your school can better promote its physical education and health curriculum and physical activity in general.

Action Based Learning Grant

Action Based Learning encourages schools to join their mission and reach those children in the most need. Their Action Based Learning Labs and Kinesthetic Classrooms can help your school improve students’ health, wellness and education, all through movement. This active learning environment can lead to higher test scores, improved behavior and more engaged students.


LAHPERD Grants

The focus of the Louisiana Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance (LAHPERD) is to improve the quality of life through health and fitness and recreational activities. The organization provides grants for developing and conducting school programs in health, physical education, recreation and dance. Funds can be used for equipment, special projects, travel, workshops or substitute pay.


Healthy Eating

Youth Garden Grants

KidsGardening creates opportunities for children to play, learn and grow through the exercise of gardening. Over the years, teachers and garden educators who have received their Youth Garden grants have seen an increase in their students’ social and leadership skills, as well as improved attitudes regarding nutrition. Funds provided through this grant can be used to support your school’s educational garden projects that will engage students’ natural curiosity and wonder to enhance their quality of life.

Action for Healthy Kids Grants

Action for Healthy Kids is a national nonprofit that brings together dedicated volunteers and partners to make schools healthier places where kids thrive. Their grant program, which supports physical activity and nutrition initiatives, provides schools with the resources for students to eat healthier, stay physically active and be better prepared to learn.


Farm to School Grants

The Department of Agriculture created the Farm to School grant program to encourage the use of more local products in school meal programs, integrate agricultural education into the classroom, and cultivate and expand school gardens. The funding provided can be used by schools for planning, training, operations support, equipment purchases, school garden creation, partnership development and implementation of farm to school programs.

National School Lunch Afterschool Snack Program

Through this federally-assisted afternoon snack program, schools are reimbursed for providing nutritious snacks that fill the afternoon hunger gap for students enrolled in afterschool activities. Eligible activities include homework assistance, tutoring, supervised “drop-in” athletic programs, extended day programs, drama activities and arts and crafts programs.


Emeril Lagasse Foundation Grants

The mission of the Emeril Lagasse Foundation is to create opportunities to inspire, mentor and enable youth to reach their full potential through culinary, nutrition and arts education. To help accomplish this, the foundation provides grants of up to $10,000 to eligible schools and community organizations partnered with schools that have existing school garden or culinary education programs. Some of the projects that have been implemented include an outdoor classroom, gardens, fresh foods cafeteria and teaching kitchen, an accessible learning kitchen for students with special needs and hospitality training for at-risk youth.

Bonnie Plants 3rd Grade Cabbage Program

This national Bonnie Plants 3rd Grade Cabbage program works to inspire a love of vegetable gardening in young people, teach children where their food comes from and grow our next generation of gardeners. Free cabbage plants are provided to 3rd grade teachers who register. They will then work with their students to cultivate, nurture and grow giant cabbages. At the end of the season, the student who has grown the “best” cabbage, based on size and appearance, will be entered to win the $1,000 scholarship, which is given to one student in each participating state.


Whole Kids Foundation Grants

The Whole Kids Foundation is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) founded by Whole Foods Market. It provides nutrition and garden grants to K-12 schools to get students excited about fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains and other nutritious foods.


Oral Health Grants

American Dental Association Foundation Grants

The American Dental Association Foundation works to raise awareness about the importance of oral health to overall health and address the staggering need of millions of school age children who go without dental care. To help remedy this, the foundation provides grants, scholarships, awards and in-kind product donations so underserved children can receive free oral health services.

Lessons in a Lunchbox Grant Program

The Children’s Oral Health Institute (COHI) is a 501(c)(3) organization that focuses on fighting dental neglect and oral abuse among children. Through the Lessons in A Lunchbox grant program, teachers, parents and children learn about routine dental care, oral health maintenance, good dietary choices and more using a “dentally designed” lunch box.


Resources