[Rosiebotboss]

Greetings,

Your Regional Directors and Senior Mentors received notification there will be NO Rookie jcpenney grants this year. jcpenney has, on their own accord, ceased its relationship with FIRST in favor of reallocating its community giving budget in other areas and to other causes. While this is somewhat of a blow to FIRST, we do recognize and thank jcp for their support we have all enjoyed over the years.

In lieu of the expected support that FIRST teams have come to enjoy, jcp did make a one time, last time grant to FIRST that will be used as follows:

· Any jcpenney-sponsored team who in the 2012 season received a rookie grant for $6,500, will be awarded a 2nd year grant in 2013 for $2,000.
· Any jcpenney-sponsored team who in the 2012 season received a 2nd year grant for $2,000, will be awarded a 3rd year grant in 2013 for $1,000.
· Those (now) 4+ year jcpenney-sponsored teams who received $1,000 in 2012 will NOT be provided with any additional funding in 2013.

There will be NO specific rookie team engagement this year. With the dollars that remain for distribution, FIRST will maintain a generous “save” pool which may later be used to help sustain/save a limited number of FRC veteran teams or potentially help support a rookie’s registration fee. (Keep in mind that for rookies we would focus priority on underserved or all girls FRC teams as this too has historically been important to jcpenney.)

The "save" pool will be on a case by case basis and my guess is your RDs will more than likely have a say in its distribution. Any questions should be directed to your Regional Director or Senior Mentor.