Who would have thought backyard barbecues could be the key to a long, healthy life?

Social relationships - even neighborhood block parties or book clubs with friends - have been  shown to have positive impact on individual and community health. In fact, last year's Longevity Project study suggested the strength of your social group goes a long way to predicting how long you'll live.

The  Connect For Health Challenge is seeking the best new ideas for social connectedness and is giving away a total of $500,000 in grants to nonprofits, schools and local units of government to support efforts that strengthen social connections in low-income communities across Minnesota.

What sorts of ideas are we seeking? Whatever works to connect people! So far, we've received entries from a poverty relief group, a breast cancer survivors' community and a rural dental clinic, among others. Any Minnesota organization working to improve community connectedness among underserved populations is encouraged to enter.

This video will give you a feel for the Challenge and explain the rules. Then, it's up to you to take action - whether you want to enter the Challenge, learn and share about social connections and healthier communities, or vote to determine the recipient of the larger grant of up to $100,000. If you enter early (by April 27, 2012), you have a chance to win a free, two-minute video about your organization created by a professional videographer.

Do you want to get even more involved? Become a community reviewer for the Connect for Health Challenge and help read and rank the entries. Then, meet with other reviewers to discuss and select the semi-finalists for up to 20 small grants (of up to $20,000 each) and the larger grant of up to $100,000.

No previous experience is necessary to be a community reviewer, just an interest in the Challenge topic, connecting with new people and participating in the process. In addition to evaluating the entries, reviewers will participate in one training meeting and two semi-finalist selection meetings. The dates and times for these meeting will be determined based on the availability of community reviewers in your area. The estimated time commitment is 10-15 hours.

Visit our SurveyMonkey page and  sign up to be a community reviewer - we especially need community reviewers to represent Greater Minnesota. To learn more about the Connect for Health Challenge, visit the InCommons website or e-mail info@incommons.org.