BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — The Baton Rouge Alliance for Students has opened applications for community grants. The Baton Rouge Alliance for Students created the Community Building Grant. It funds local organizations dedicated to enhancing the lives of Baton Rouge’s young people and their families through growth, leadership development and community advocacy. This year marks the third cycle of the grant program. Last year's recipient was the Baton Rouge Youth Coalition. "At the Baton Rouge Youth Coalition, we rely heavily on our mentors. So community members who are supporting our young people, specifically, our seniors this year through their college application process. With the support of the Baton Rouge Alliance for Students and their grant, we were able to work with 84 seniors and their 73 mentors supporting them through the entire college application process," said Baton Rouge Youth Coalition Chief of Programs Allie Diefendorf. Both groups say these organizations uplift the community by investing in the future of children in Baton Rouge. According to the Baton Rouge Alliance for Students, these grants are vital in addressing challenges by funding projects that target specific needs such as after-school support.  "We know that kids are only in school for a finite part of their day but there are a lot of other needs that take place in the community. So we've been happy to support things like 'Girls on the Run' and other activities that take place after school," said Baton Rouge Alliance for Students Chief Executive Officer Adonica Pelichet Duggan. US Sen. Bill Cassidy teaches Prairieville High School students about how Congress works The 2024 Community Building Grants application period ends on Friday, Oct. 11.  The selection committee will review all submissions and notify recipients by Oct. 25. If you or your group want to submit a proposal, go to the Baton Rouge Alliance for Students website. Latest News Chevy and GMC truck owners could get up to $12,700 as part of $35M settlement Harris backs striking port workers, knocks Trump Whisker Wednesday: Meet Belle, a cat up for adoption New California law mandates fashion industry to take old clothes back for free Baton Rouge Police: Man killed, woman hurt in Monday night crash