SHERMAN, TEXAS -- The annual budget is often one of the greatest challenges for non-profit organizations. Recognizing this need and in keeping with their commitment to community service, students in Austin College's Posey Leadership Institute are "Lighting the Way for Non-Profits" through formation of the Leadership Institute Grant Help Team (LIGHT). LIGHT's goal is to help non-profit agencies in Grayson County to build a more sustainable income flow. Funded in part by the W. B. Munson Foundation of Sherman, LIGHT is offering a program that will assist 50 local non-profit agencies. The students'interest in "Lighting the Way for Non-Profits" was sparked after a campus visit by Honie Ann Peacock, a non-profit management pioneer with proven success in earned income project development and organization infrastructure development. LIGHT is now accepting applications for one-day workshops, Monday, Oct. 4, or Saturday, Oct. 9, developed and facilitated by Peacock, focusing on skill development in the areas of strategic business planning, organization infrastructure development, and marketing strategies. Up to 50 organizations will be selected to participate in one of the two one-day workshops. Of those, four will be selected, based upon their application and a panel interview, to participate in an additional one-day intensive personalized consultancy with Peacock, Tuesday, Oct. 5, through Friday, Oct. 8, to work specifically on the individual agency's project and objectives. Those four agencies also will have a nine-month program of periodic follow-up with Peacock. Applications are available online at www.austincollege.edu/Category.asp?2681or may be requested by calling (903) 813-2148 or (903) 813-2031. Application deadline is 5 p.m., Aug. 16. Executive panels will interview selected non-profit agencies and those selected for the workshops will be notified in early September. Criteria for agency eligibility include active service to the citizens of Grayson County, submission of a 501(c) (3) certified non-profit letter from the IRS, operation a minimum of two years (exceptions can be made at the discretion of LIGHT) and submission of application materials by the deadline. Each student in the Posey Leadership Institute performs at least two hours of community service per week during the academic year. In addition to the obvious assistance to the community, another goal of the service component of the Leadership Institute is to help students become aware of community concerns and needs through that service, said Shelton Williams, director of the Posey Leadership Institute and professor of political science at Austin College. "The students recognized a need for enhanced funding sources and wanted to provide practical and tangible assistance," he said. "They had met with Honie Ann Peacock during our "Women in Leadership" speaker series and knew of her success with non-profits. The team completed a grant application from the Munson Foundation to assist in funding a local project highlighting her expertise. I'm proud of our students who have stepped forth to break ground for this exciting project and pleased with their sense of the non-profit's need of assistance and their desire to search for new ideas." Peacock, a resident of New York City, has worked for more than 20 years creating and leading workshops, curricula, and conferences in business and strategic planning, organization, development, communication, marketing, and small business and non-profit earned income development. Her clients have included The City University of New York, the Bronx Council on the Arts, and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, among many others. She has been named Women's Business Advocate of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administrations and been recognized by the New York City Chamber of Commerce for her work. For information, call LIGHT at (903) 813-2148 or (903) 813-2031, or visit the Austin College website at www.austincollege.edu. Application deadline is Aug. 16, 2004. Austin College, affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA), is an independent, liberal arts college of 1,300 students located 60 miles north of Dallas in Sherman, Texas. Chartered in November 1849, it is the oldest college in Texas under original charter and name as recognized by the State Historical Survey Committee. Austin College is included in Loren Pope's Colleges That Change Lives, ranked among the "Best 351 Colleges" in the 2004 Princeton Review, and profiled in the 2004 edition of Kaplan's Insiders Guide to the 328 Most Interesting Colleges.