Turtle Grant

The Turtle Grant was created in 2005 by the University of Georgia's Delta Zeta Chapter to support the Deaf community of Athens, Georgia. The goal of the Turtle Grant program is to support and aid the hearing and speech impaired in the Northeast Georgia area. Our aim is to build a relationship with this community and support them through grant money and service hours. The committee will organize and navigate these projects, but we rely on the full support of the chapter to make the Turtle Grant a success.

Click here to see the Turtle Grant pamphlet!

Turtle Grant News

Another grant we did recently was a $500 scholarship donation on behalf of Madison Glover. Madison is a 9-year-old girl with speech and hearing difficulties. These disabilities have caused her to struggle with school. Madison was accepted to the Sage Academy which is a special school that works with kids with language, speech and hearing development issues. Madison's tuition was $12,000 even after a Georgia special needs scholarship so we are glad that we have the opportunity to help her continue her studies. Delta Zeta actually in contact with a teacher at the school and we're trying to set up a service day for us to go to the school and work with these kids one-on-one to improve their reading and language skills.

Application Process

Click here to read our constitution. Please review this document before applying to the grant as it contains important information that may affect your eligibility.

Click here to fill out an application.

Note: Turtle Grant Applications are only reviewed during the University of Georgia Academic School year, excluding the Summer Session. Applications will be reviewed from mid August through the end of April.

Grant recipients will be informed of the status of their application by letter or email. For professional and legal purposes, all monetary gifts from the Turtle Grant will go directly to the person or organization providing the services or goods.

Scholarship Application Process

If you are interested in obtaining a scholarship for a school or university through the Turtle Grant please fill out this scholarship application form rather than the regular application form. The Turtle Grant has $500 in available scholarship money per school year. We accept scholarship applications from January 1-April 1. The committee will review the applications in April and let the applicants know the status of their grant in mid-April.

Eligibility

Any individuals with hearing and speech impairments living in the Northeast Georgia district of RESA are eligible for the grant. These counties include Barrow County, Clarke County, Commerce City, Elbert County, Greene County, Jackson County, Jefferson City, Madison County, Morgan County, Oconee County, Oglethorpe County, Social Circle City and Walton County. Individuals that are related to or live with individuals with hearing and speech impairments are also eligible.

Gifts Include (but are not limited to):

service hours (community events, tutoring, etc.), interpreter fees, minor medical aid, school related needs, household items, scholarships, camp fees and learning materials.

Gifts Exclude:

hearing aids, cochlear implant fees, and donations to existing organizations

Interested in Helping Out?

The Turtle Grant allocated our first grant in November of 2005 with the hope of assisting the local hearing and speech impaired community in the North Georgia area. Since then we have had the chance to help our community with over $20,500 in donated goods. Recipients are spreading the word about the grant and we look forward to receiving more applications in the years to come.

The grant thrives off of money raised by Delta Zeta sisters through philanthropic events as well as money from donations made by alumnae and other generous individuals. If you are interested in making a donation to the Turtle Grant, please mail a check made payable to Delta Zeta (memo line: “Turtle Grant”) to the following address:

Delta Zeta’s Turtle Grant
Attn: Turtle Grant Chairman
317 South Milledge Avenue
Athens, Georgia 30605

To Learn More...

Click here to see a list of Turtle Grants previously given out!

If you are interested in learning more about the turtle grant, please e-mail turtlegrant@deltazetauga.org!