Three neighborhood associations in Sunnyvale are taking action to encourage residents to participate in their communities.

These associations have received grants from Community Foundation Silicon Valley, a nonprofit organization serving Santa Clara County.

The foundation's Neighborhood Grant Program awards money every year to residents throughout Silicon Valley to help them revitalize their neighborhoods through activities such as social events, awareness programs and beautification efforts.

Sunnyvale Neighbors of Arbor Including La Linda association received $2,000 to print a monthly newsletter to be used as an outreach tool. This association serves residents inthe vicinity of Columbia Middle School.

Elaine Rowan, chairwoman of the association, said the newsletter reaches 900 families in the neighborhood and informs residents about local issues. "We include information on community events in order to recruit volunteers from our neighborhood, and we pass along information from the city, like telling residents to put their garbage cans behind fences," Rowan said.

The Lakewood Village Neighborhood Association received $530 to produce banners to highlight community events. Lawrence Expressway divides the neighborhood into two sections, and the banners are displayed on each side of the road.

Craig Crawford, a newsletter coordinator and former president of the association, said he petitioned the foundation for grant money in an effort to bring residents of all cultural groups together. The neighborhood has seen an increase in ethnically diverse residents and is struggling with integration and inclusion/exclusion issues.

The Heritage District Neighborhood Association received $2,000 to publish a monthly newsletter to keep residents apprised of local issues impacting their neighborhood, which stretches from Mathilda, Fair Oaks and Maude avenues to El Camino Real, close to downtown Sunnyvale.

Neighborhood representatives must attend training sessions with Community Foundation Silicon Valley as well as check-ins throughout the year.

The foundation awards grants based on a number of criteria, said Grainger Marburg, director of communications for the Neighborhood Grants Program at Community Foundation Silicon Valley.

"We look at diversity in terms of different genders, races and ages in the community," Marburg said.

The foundation also looks at cooperation between residents and self-sufficiency. "We look at whether the activities they are proposing bring people together and whether they provide opportunities for residents to take control of their neighborhood," Marburg said.

The foundation's Neighborhood Grants Program has been around since 1992, and according to Marburg, has been very successful, with neighborhoods in San Jose, Gilroy and Sunnyvale active in seeking grants.

But Marburg said the main goal in the past couple of years has been to encourage residents to take more responsibility and not to rely on city services or the foundation.

"We are pushing for the neighborhood groups to figure out how to sustain themselves, and we've incorporated this idea into our training," Marburg said.