All USA USA Territories: American Samoa (USA); Guam (USA); Puerto Rico (USA); Virgin Islands (USA); Northern Mariana Islands (USA); Canada:Alberta; British Columbia; Manitoba; New Brunswick; Newfoundland and Labrador; Northwest Territories; Nova Scotia; Nunavut; Ontario; Prince Edward Island; Quebec; Saskatchewan; Yukon;
Grants of $100, grants of $250, and grants of $500 to USA and Canada youth for initiatives to encourage acts of kindness. Eligible activities must include youth volunteers. Funding is intended for activities that foster connections, teach empathy, and promote inclusion.
Youth Service America (YSA) is looking for ideas straight from your heart that build meaningful connections and create more inclusive, empathetic, and kind communities. Suggested project focus areas include:
Promoting Inclusion
Celebrating Diverse Cultures
Building Racial Equity
Teaching Empathy
Creating a Kinder Community
Protecting Mental Health
Fostering Meaningful Connections
Building Intergenerational Relationships
Addressing Social Isolation
You can propose a project with a different focus as long as it has building empathy, inclusivity, kindness, and/or connection as one of its goals.
Three grant options are available:
Miniature-Size Grant – for small family-and-friends-sized activities (required to engage at least 10 youth participants as volunteers)
Standard-Size Grant – for medium-size group/club/classroom activities (required to engage at least 25 youth participants as volunteers)
King-Size Grant – for larger community-wide activities (required to engage at least 50 youth participants as volunteers)
Eligible Expenses:
Recognition items (such as t-shirts, certificates, and plaques) and snacks/refreshments are allowed but should not cost more than 50% of your budget.
Materials or supplies you need to complete your service;
Local transportation for youth doing service;
Postage, copying, and printing directly related to your project.
All youth ages 5-25 in the United States (including U.S. territories and military bases & DoD schools) and Canada are eligible to apply.
Ineligible
Ineligible Expenses:
- Items that will be donated directly to project recipients (for example, buying food, toiletries, or items of clothing to donate) Often, local stores, especially those of national retail chains, will donate these items to you;
- Expensive equipment that will be used only once, such as a laptop, tablet, projector, GPS, etc. If the equipment will be used many times in the future, be sure to explain that in your budget;
- Direct payments to people, like hiring a DJ or paying someone to speak at or attend your event;
- Anything called "miscellaneous expenses" that you do not fully explain;
- Funding of daily operations for ongoing programs;
- Long-range expenses NOT directly related to the proposed project.
Pre-Application Information
The application deadline is Sunday, March 5 at 11:59 pm your local time.
Timeline:
- January 19, 2023: Application Opens
- March 5, 2023: Application Deadline
- March 20, 2023: All Applicants Notified
- April 2, 2023: GYSD Plans Due
- April 14 - May 14, 2023: Youth Service Month
- April 28-30, 2023: Global Youth Service Day
- June 2, 2023: Impact Reports Due
