More than $100,000 in funding from Berlin Drive for Education Grants will be used to address literacy and technology initiatives at schools in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.

Berlin City Auto Group Vice President Yegor Malinovskii said six Maine schools will receive more than half of those funds to purchase items such as iPads, Eno whiteboards, a projection camera and video surveillance equipment to address incidents of bullying.

Those recipients include Sugg Middle School in Lisbon, Windham Primary School, Narragansett School and Village School, both in Gorham, Dike-Newell Elementary School in Bath, and Manchester School in Windham.

The awards are part of the dealership’s charitable outreach campaign, which is funded annually based on a percentage of car sales in the previous quarter.

“Our seven dealerships support various charitable causes but about 80 percent of our donations go to education,” Malinovskii said. “That is important to our nearly 500 employees. Especially during a recession, when a lot of schools are facing cuts and teachers are having to purchase their own supplies for classroom projects.”

Last year, nearly $101,000 was given to schools. This year, the dealership, headquartered near the Maine Mall in South Portland, expects to exceed that amount with a second round of awards to be given in late fall.

Those funds are available to students in kindergarten through grade 12 who attend public school. The students submit proposals to the Berlin group via YouTube presentations, DVD or other forms of media, detailing their classroom needs.

“We review every single application that is submitted,” Malinovskii said. “It’s an arduous task, taking from three to five hours to review them before putting it to a vote.”

“We were really excited about the response to this year’s program. We feel this gives us a unique way to give back to the community and we couldn’t be more pleased with the schools’ submissions. The response really touched our hearts to the creativity of these students and what their needs are.”

The winners are expected to be announced this morning, with Malinovskii presenting the schools with checks next week.