Chocolate Milk: Nature’s Sports Drink Grant
If your high school athletes aren’t powering up with low-fat chocolate milk, then this is a great opportunity to get started! Chocolate milk is ‘Nature’s Sports Drink’, and provides many important nutrients needed for overall health, including calcium, potassium and vitamin D. Learn more about the Chocolate Milk: Nature’s Sports Drink grant requirements below.
Jump to:
Apply for Funding | Grant Requirements | Grant Checks | Grant Kits | Share your great news! | Questions
Apply for Funding
Does your High School team refuel with chocolate milk? Learn more about the Chocolate Milk: Nature’s Sports Drink grant in our Grant Overview.
Apply now for Winter 2021-2022 season. Winter applications are due by October 8, 2021.
Milk Means More and Michigan’s Dairy Farmers have proudly fueled Michigan High School teams since 2011.
Grant Requirements
- Electronically signed Memorandum of Understanding: Once Chocolate Milk: Nature’s Sports Drink grantees are announced, you will be required to electronically sign the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). The MOU is an agreement between the United Dairy Industry of Michigan and the grant contact that the grant funds will be used to provide chocolate milk to your high school athletes.
- Grantees are required to watch this 5-minute Sports Nutrition 101 webinar to learn more about performance nutrition and the “why” of chocolate milk to refuel. Sports Nutrition 101 Webinar
- Nutrition or Community Outreach – Teams will be required to complete either Nutrition Education or Nutrition Outreach in their communities. Learn more:
- Complete end of season survey
Failure to complete grant requirements may result in team ineligibility in future Milk Means More grants.
Want to learn more about nutrition in sport? Sports Dietitian Pratik Patil, MS, RD, CSCS, CSSD explores the role of protein, carbohydrates, fats, hydration, and refueling.Grant Checks
Upon receipt of MOU, Milk Means More will process your grant payment. New this year, we will offer payment by ACH transfer or check. Recipients will receive a secure link to submit this information when awards are announced. Learn more about the benefits of ACH payments.
Please be advised that due to check processing time, the check may not arrive prior to the beginning of the season. You will receive notification of when checks are sent via UPS. If being sent to the school office, please notify your school office to expect the check and where to deliver it.
Grant Kits
As part of the grant, your team will receive a kit that includes promotional and educational material. It will be shipped to your schools within the first 2-3 weeks of the season. The kit will include items such as:
- Sports Nutrition Resources
- Chocolate Milk Banner
- Chocolate Milk Cooler Stickers
- Nutrition Outreach Guide
- Community Outreach Guide
- Chocolate Milk Mustache Stickers
“Chocolate Milk Celebrities” Posters
Using photos of your team you provide, our graphic designer will create personalized, professionally printed poster of your team, much like the old milk mustache posters. We will be sending out the specifications for the pictures via email. Here are some important guidelines:
- Whipped cream or chocolate pudding works well for creating mustaches. You can also use the chocolate milk mustaches provided in your grant kit.
- If showing milk in its original container, use hands to cover the brand or show the back of the packaging.
- MHSAA regulations do not allow for team uniforms in your poster. Practice gear or school t-shirts are recommended. Photos which include shirtless athletes will not be accepted.
- Photos must be hi-resolution files, at least 1 MB large. When you upload your photo, we need the original file size of the image, which is the largest file size on most cell phones.
- A team photo release will be included in your MOU. We do not need each athlete to sign a photo release, but the team photo release requires that you verify that each student in your photos has a photo release on file at your school.
Team Photo Due Date for Fall 2021: August 27, 2021
Share your great news!
Let your community know you are a Chocolate Milk: Nature’s Sports Drink grant winner! Share the good news with your media contacts with our press release template or share on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook with our Social Media Toolkit!
Questions?
Check out our Frequently Asked Questions to learn more. Or email chocolatemilk@milkmeansmore.org.