The Huntington, Ind., campus of Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems has pledged $1,000 to local high school students in a statewide Robotics competition and an additional $2,000 to support the entire event.

The money will support Huntington North High School, which is sending its team to compete against 30 other teams in the Indiana portion of the 2017 FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Championship. The two-day event takes place at Huntington North High School.

Ten teams from the Indiana competition will go on to compete against 390 teams at the FIRST World Championship at the end of the month in St. Louis, Mo. Each team consists of 50 people who qualified for the state championship by competing in three prior district events.

Bendix is backing the robotics tournament as part of the company’s ongoing commitment to support local STEM and other education initiatives as well as area-wide community growth.

“Our goal in supporting the Huntington team, and the tournament as a whole, is to enhance programs supporting educational opportunities for young people in technology,” said Mike Pogorelc, Bendix’s Huntington plant manager. “We want to help build the future of technology. Giving to a program like this allows Bendix to play a part in that future within our community, region, and industry.”