Stanford’s 2012 Community Partnership Awards recognized three community groups and a Stanford student group this week for their initiative, leadership and involvement in projects benefiting local communities.

Through one of the award-winning organizations, DreamCatchers, students and recent graduates provide after-school programming to local youths. The program, founded by Stanford students, aims to improve academic performance and encourage healthier lifestyles while cultivating more intangible life skills, such as work ethic and self-confidence.

Canopy aims to protect and expand the urban forest in Palo Alto, East Palo Alto and other neighboring communities, and has consistently engaged with locals and with members of the Stanford community toward conservation efforts.

Innvision, the leading provider of shelter and services for local homeless, has partnered with Stanford students engaged in public service, including most recently the Stanford Project on Hunger (SPOON), which was also honored by the Community Partnership Awards. Through the collaboration, SPOON volunteers collect excess food from campus to be served to those in need.

— Marshall Watkins