The Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund, chaired by First Lady Mary Pat Christie, has launched its fourth grant cycle, and the organization expects to award $5 million in grants during this application period.

The organization has raised more than $40 million and has distributed about two-thirds of those funds, according to First Lady Mary Pat Christie.

The rolling online grant application period began March 3 and ends May 23 for eligible non-profit organizations providing Sandy specific disaster relief and recovery services in New Jersey. The Relief Fund's focus areas include: housing assistance, social services specific to unmet needs, mental health support and financial and legal counseling.

Final grant announcements can be expected on or before June 30, 2014.

Christie said that applicants must be a registered 501(c) 3 tax-exempt non-profit. "Proposals will be evaluated on several criteria including organizational capacity, track record of success, project alignment to priority funding areas, clarity of project implementation, budget detail, expected outcomes, and opportunity for impact. The minimum grant request is $10,000," according to a prepared statement about the grants.

The application can be accessed at:https://SandyNJReliefFund.org.

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