Stephen J. Brady

STOP Hunger Scholarships

The Stephen J. Brady STOP Hunger Scholarships, a program of the Sodexo Foundation, recognize students who are driving awareness and mobilizing youth to be catalysts for innovative models and solutions to eliminate hunger in America.

Fifty-million people are at risk of hunger, including 17 million children. The Sodexo Foundation works to ensure that every child in the U.S., especially those most at risk, grows up with dependable access to enough nutritious food to enable them to lead a healthy, productive life.

The Stephen J. Brady STOP Hunger Scholarships recognize and reward students who have made a significant impact in the fight against hunger. The scholarship recipients each receive $5,000 for their education as well as a $5,000 matching grant in their name for the hunger-related charity of their choice.

Stephen J. Brady STOP Hunger Scholarships are open to students (Kindergarten through graduate school) enrolled in an accredited educational institution in the United States. Applicants must have demonstrated on-going commitment to their community by performing unpaid volunteer services impacting hunger in the United States at least within the last 12 months. Applications for Stephen J. Brady STOP Hunger Scholarships will be accepted through December 5, 2011. Learn more: http://bit.ly/qImcz3

Connect with YSA

YSA Funding Partners

Corporation for National and Community Service

News From the Field
U.S. House Threatens Elimination of All National Service Programs - Save Service Campaign Continues The Save Service Coalition learned last week that the House of Representatives has issued draft legislation to shut down the Corporation for National and Community Service and eliminate funding for AmeriCorps, the Social Innovation Fund, the Volunteer Generation Fund and Learn & Serve America. The bill dissolves the entire service agency, cuts over 100,000 jobs, and eliminates essential services that children, seniors, veterans and entire communities rely on. Please visit the Save Service Take Action page to write and call your Members of Congress immediately to prevent this House bill from becoming law. http://bit.ly/oR1We5	Remembering Dr. Peter Benson Dr. Peter L. Benson, president and CEO of Minneapolis-based Search Institute, died Sunday, Oct. 2, after a year-long fight with cancer. Dr. Benson's international reputation in human development emerged in the 1990s through his innovative, research-based framework of the Developmental Assets. Dr. Benson's work wove together rigorous scholarship with a passionate commitment to understanding-and influencing-society to be more attentive to children , youth, and families. His work has guided more than 500 community-based initiatives in 45 states and every Canadian province, and on six continents. All of us at YSA continue to be inspired by Peter's vision of communities that work together to support - and engage - every young person. Share your memories at: http://bit.ly/pioqWV

Lights On Afterschool: October 20 Join 1 million Americans and 7,500+ communities nationwide in celebrating the afterschool programs that keep our kids safe, inspire them to learn and help working families. http://bit.ly/r2kP2n	Make a Difference Day: October 22 For more than 20 years, USA WEEKEND Magazine and HandsOn Network have joined together to sponsor Make A Difference Day, Millions of Americans will unite in a common mission to improve the lives of others on Saturday, October 22, 2011. http://bit.ly/oYeiQD

Grants & Awards

UnitedHealth HEROES Grants

Deadline: October 17

The UnitedHealth HEROES program is a service-learning, health literacy initiative that awards grants to help youth, ages 5-25, create and implement local, hands-on programs to fight childhood obesity. The grants encourage semester-long projects that launch on MLK Day of Service and culminate on Global Youth Service Day. Schools, service-learning coordinators, non-profits, and students in the health professions located in all 50 states and the District of Columbia are eligible to apply for the $500 - $1,000 grants. Learn more at www.YSA.org/HEROES

J-Serve 2012 Grants

Deadline: November 3

Grants are available for J-Serve 2012 - April 22, 2012. J-Serve is a day of service for Jewish teens framed in a Jewish context and part of YSA's Global Youth Service Day. Connecting our community-wide effort to Global Youth Service Day links a Jewish communal activity to an established and highly respected national civic effort and links our Jewish teens to their international peers as together on that day millions of young people around the world engage in service to their communities. http://bit.ly/pLDzxE

State Farm Good Neighbor Service-Learning Grants

Deadline: November 9

State Farm is proud to team up with YSA to offer grants of up to $1,000 for service-learning projects in K-12 public schools in all fifty US states and the District of Columbia, and in the Canadian provinces of Alberta, Ontario and New Brunswick. The State Farm Good Neighbor Service-Learning Grants encourage semester-long projects. Up to 125 grants will be awarded; at least 10-15 grants will support projects addressing teen driver safety issues. Learn more at www.YSA.org/goodneighbor

MLK Day Lead Organizer Grants

Deadline: November 18

YSA and CNCS are proud to support up to 16 MLK Day Lead Organizers with $4,000 planning grants to coordinate Martin Luther King Day of Service (January 16, 2012) activities. This grant program is open to nonprofit organizations, K-12 schools, and colleges & universities in all 50 states and DC. Grantees will be required to engage at least 3,000 volunteers in community service or service-learning projects on MLK Day, build or strengthen partnerships with at least 5 partner organizations, and address one or more strategic issue areas. Learn more: www.YSA.org/grants/MLKDay

Everyday Young Heroes

Haile Thomas

Marana, AZ

YSA recognizes ten year old Haile Thomas of Marana, Arizona as one of our Everyday Young Heroes for her work to promote healthy lifestyles choices among her peers.

Haile is committed to engaging, inspiring and motivating other kids to learn to cook as a stepping stone to other healthy lifestyle choices. She selected this issue after participating in a five week Girls Making Media workshop and was inspired to create an online cooking show demonstrating to kids that they can cook. In addition to hosting her show, Haile does community cooking demos for kids teaching kids how to make healthy snacks, lunches and dinners. Haile also runs the local Arizona Kids Food Revolution Facebook Group, as part of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. The group has over 200 fans on Facebook and Haile shares relevant health tips and information as well as promotes healthy events in our community. Haile recently created and launched an online club for girls, www.hgaclub.com and attracted almost 40 girls from across the country to inspire and motivate each other to make healthy lifestyle choices.

Haile is a Youth Advisory Board Member for the Alliance for a Healthier Generation and she is in the process of planning a service learning project for 2012 Global Youth Service Day that will involve many youth volunteers and community partners. Haile was also selected as one of 16 youth to speak at the recent TEDxKids@BC event in Vancouver and her presentation was titled "There is a Gourmet Chef in Every Child."

Haile's various projects are teaching kids that they can have an active role in preventing childhood obesity or other problems associated with unhealthy lifestyle choices. For her efforts to inspire her peers and community members to join the fight against childhood obesity, we honor Haile as an Everyday Young Hero.

To nominate a young person who has improved their community through service to be recognized as an Everyday Young Hero, please visit www.ysa.org/awards/hero.

Resources & Trainings

Students as Allies in School Reform

Eight years ago, with support from MetLife Foundation, WKCD developed an initiative called "Students as Allies in School Reform." In five cities, WKCD engaged 6,500 students and 445 teachers in survey research about their own schools, supported dialogue and constructive action around their research results, and nurtured youth leadership along the way. Since then, the surveys used in 2003-2004 have been downloaded more than 150,000 times from WKCD.org-by teachers, teacher educators, education students in college and graduate school, and student groups. Now, WCKD has refreshed the surveys and the accompanying guides and resources. WKC invites students and teachers in schools nationwide to administer (or adapt) these tools, then use the results as an occasion for thoughtful, data-based discussions about how to make their school better. Learn more, download the resources, and improve your school: http://bit.ly/qQ9qZl

PACE Webinar: Increasing College Access and Success Through Civic Engagement

This webinar will feature Campus Compact's national effort to utilize civic engagement to promote access to and success in higher education. In the first of its kind Presidential Leadership Summit convened by Campus Compact (CC) in October 2010, nearly 100 college and university presidents and state CC directors gathered to focus on a single, compelling thesis: that college students who participate in civic engagement and service learning as part of their curriculum earn higher grade point averages and have a better chance of staying in college and earning degrees. Hear about what has happened since the Summit and what lessons have been learned that can inform the work of other higher education institutions. Once you register for the webinar, you'll be redirected to a link to A Promising Connection, the white paper published by CC for the Summit. Register for the webinar at: http://bit.ly/okPNJs

Reading Rockets and AdLit.org Announce Writing Contest

To celebrate the publication of the Exquisite Corpse Adventure, Reading Rockets and AdLit.org announce the Exquisite Prompt Redux - a national writing contest for kids in true exquisite corpse fashion. In the contest, the prompts for K-12 students to write about come from winning student entries from a previous writing contest. Kids have until November 30 to write the ending to a cliffhanger, a review of a magical object purchased from The Fairy Tale Catalog, a poem in the voice of the Whinoceros, or the adventures of two time travelers. Fabulous prizes include autographed books by Exquisite Corpse Adventure authors! Don't know what an exquisite corpse is? Read and learn more at http://bit.ly/o3byaJ