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February 16, 2012
Volume 19, No. 7
Circulation: 40,100
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$1,000 GRants for GYSD 2012 Projects
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Disney Friends for Change Grants offer young change-makers an opportunity to receive a $1,000 grant to help make a lasting, positive change in the world.
Whether you are passionate about protecting the planet, providing meals to those who need it or giving kids just like you the resources they need to star in their own play, be an athlete or an artist, you can be a Friend for Change! Whatever your interests, a Disney Friends for Change Grant can help you make a difference for people, communities and the planet.
Youth ages 5-18 located in all 50 states and the District of Columbia are eligible to apply for a $1,000 grant.
Applications are due by midnight on February 29, 2012.
Learn more at: www.YSA.org/grants/disney-friends-change-grants
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Connect with YSA
  
YSA Funding Partners
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Global Youth Service Day - April 20-22, 2012
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Become a Global Youth Service Day (GYSD) 2012 Blogger! We're looking for service lovers to blog about their projects to feature on YSA's blog. This is a chance to share why GYSD is important to you and to inspire others to get involved in the largest service event in the world. Share project ideas, planning process highlights, creative reflection activities, community impact, and more. Apply by 2/24 if you're interested! http://bit.ly/yXmFxy
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Register your GYSD project or event at www.GYSD.org/register
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News From the Field
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FY13 National Service Budget Request
On February 13 President Obama sent his Fiscal Year 2013 budget request to Congress. The budget requests $1.063 billion for the Corporation for National and Community Service in FY 2013, an increase of $13.8 million over the current funding level.
The proposed budget includes small increases for AmeriCorps State & National, AmeriCorps VISTA, Senior Corps, and the Social Innovation Fund, decreases for AmeriCorps VISTA and training / technical assistance, and eliminates funding for the Volunteer Generation Fund.
Over the next several weeks and months, Congress will develop and debate the final FY13 budget. http://bit.ly/w0dxQT
The Save Service coalition - Voices for National Service, ServiceNation, America Forward, and ServeNext - will continue to mobilize the service field during the upcoming budget debate. www.SaveService.org
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Save Service Budget Statement: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back
"While the Administration heard your voices and maintained service as a priority in this budget, we have a long way to go to get back on track towards achieving the goals set forth in the bipartisan Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act. ... We need you more than ever, and we need to enlist others in our cause. Share this note on Facebook with your friends, and ask them to follow us on Twitter @SaveService as we continue the work to save service in America."
AmeriCorps: One Million Turned Away
In 2011, AmeriCorps received 582,000 applications for just 82,000 positions. This is up from 536,000 in 2010 for 85,000 spots. That means that over two years, nearly 1 million Americans have been turned away from serving the country through AmeriCorps - making it nearly as hard to get into AmeriCorps as it is to get into an Ivy league college. http://bit.ly/wHis0q
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National Wildlife Week - March 19-25
Held annually since 1938, National Wildlife Week is NWF's longest-running education program. National Wildlife Week is a signature event of NWF's Be Out There™ campaign, an initiative to connect families and communities to nature, raise healthier kids, instill a conservation ethic, and inspire a life-long appreciation of wildlife and the environment.
Learn about 45 EXTRA-ordinary wildlife species in your community and across the country and how you can help them. Explore the wonder, but then take a pledge to "Do Something" for wildlife during the week and for the next month. Participate with your family, at school or in your community. You'll not only enjoy yourself, but spending time outside will make you a happier and healthier person! http://bit.ly/xY3gw8
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National Volunteer Week - Celebrating People in Action - April 15-21, 2012
Every day, in places throughout the country, people are using their time, talent, voice, and money to create positive change in their communities. National Volunteer Week, April 15-21, is the time when we celebrate these powerful people doing extraordinary things through service. "Celebrating People in Action" is Points of Light's new storytelling contest recognizing the power of service through the stories of those who have made a meaningful difference in their community. Visit Points of Light's Facebook page now until April 21 and share your story today for the opportunity to inspire others (and win some cool prizes like a Celebrity Cruise to Alaska courtesy of Cabot). http://on.fb.me/AaYCl5
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Grants & Awards
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Disney Friends for Change Grants
Deadline: February 29
Disney Friends for Change Grants offer young change-makers an opportunity to receive a $1,000 grant to help make a lasting, positive change in the world. Whether you are passionate about protecting the planet, providing meals to those who need it or giving kids just like you the resources they need to star in their own play, be an athlete or an artist, you can be a Friend for Change! Whatever your interests, a Disney Friends for Change Grant can help you make a difference for people, communities and the planet. Youth ages 5-18 located in all 50 states and the District of Columbia are eligible to apply for a $1,000 grant. www.YSA.org/grants/disney-friends-change-grants
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National Park Trust National Kids to Parks Day Classroom Contest
Deadline: March 1
This new national contest is open to all schools across the country and in the U.S. territories. The theme of this year's contest is "Explore outdoors, the parks are yours!" Students can submit proposals that exemplify this theme for a Kids to Parks event at a park in their community. The National Park Trust will award scholarships in the amount of $250, $500 or $1,000 to winning entries. Awards will be used by the winners to implement their Kids to Parks event during the week leading up to May 19th. Winners will be announced Monday, March 19th. National Kids to Parks Day is May 19. http://bit.ly/xbPvat
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Katie's Krops Opal Apple Grants
Deadline: March 5
Opal Apple and Katie's Krops are thrilled to be able to offer grants to kids ages 9 to 16 to start vegetable gardens where the bounty is donated to individuals in need. Katie's Krops Grantees will be awarded materials necessary to create a garden (up to $400), support from Katie's Krops, and a digital camera to document your garden and the harvest. Applications for all types of vegetable gardens will be considered such as a container garden if you live in a city or a vegetable garden located in your neighborhood. Applicants must be between the ages of 9 and 16 (as of March 1, 2012). http://bit.ly/zVApoQ
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National Wildlife Federation Craig Tufts Educational Scholarship
Deadline: March 30
National Wildlife Federation and the Tufts family are now accepting nominations from students between the ages of 8-18 for the Craig Tufts Scholarship Award. The award is given to a student and chaperone to attend a week-long educational and adventure experience in the Summer. This year's winner will attend the Family Summit Inc program in the Rocky Mountains (YMCA of the Rockies, Estes Park, Colorado) on July 7-13, 2012. Interested students need to complete an essay submission by March 30th. http://bit.ly/ykyDZI
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Everyday Young Heroes
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Keefer Brown
Wasilla, AK
YSA recognizes 13 year old Keefer Brown of Wasilla, Alaska, as an Everyday Young Hero for his commitment to raising money for the Alaska SeaLife Center's animal rehabilitation and rescue program. Keefer, a seventh-grader at Teeland Middle School, raised more than $3,500 to help rehabilitate sick and injured seals at the Alaska SeaLife Center by making and selling candles and other items decorated with shells and seaweed that he collected on the beach. During a school field trip in 2010, Keefer learned that he could adopt an animal at the SeaLife Center for $50 and he raised the money by selling candles decorated with items he collected on the beach. His project garnered support from tourists and residents, and he ended up raising $1,300.00 in 2010. In 2011, Keefer sold decorated picture frames, mirrors and wreaths, in addition to candles, earning another $2,371.00 for the SeaLife Center. To show its appreciation, the center honored Keefer at a gala in Anchorage, and allowed him to name a baby seal and attend the release of two harbor seals into the wild. Keefer so far has raised $3,671.00 for the AKSLC and would like to continue the program in the summer of 2012. For his work to promote the conservation of local wildlife and for his efforts to engage his community in his service project, we honor Keefer 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. |
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Resources & Trainings
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National Wildlife Week 2012 Webinar - Extraordinary Wildlife
Wednesday, February 29th, 4:00-5:00pm Eastern
Join a webinar to learn how you and your students can celebrate our nation's Extraordinary Wildlife during National Wildlife Week 2012, March 19-25. During the week, the National Wildlife Federation will focus on 45 species of wildlife in the U.S. - record breakers, those with unique defenses, those with extra keen senses, those that can survive in extreme conditions, and those with special adaptations. Join the webinar and learn more about: the featured wildlife, with "Did you know?" facts; fun activities you can do with students--including watching for wildlife; National Wildlife Week materials; ways that you can teach about wildlife; and engaging students with ideas for service projects to help wildlife in their communities and across the nation. http://bit.ly/xBsy77
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Youth-Adult Partnerships in Public Action
The Forum for Youth Investment partnered with the University of Wisconsin's Center for Nonprofits to publish Youth-Adult Partnerships in Public Action: Principles, Organizational Culture and Outcomes. This study focuses on how organizations translate principles of youth engagement into practice and build a culture of partnership, as well as the outcomes - for young people, institutions and communities - that can result when they do. The research focuses on two organizations, Austin Voices for Education and Youth and Oasis Community IMPACT in Nashville, TN, but the lessons can help any organization committed to meaningful youth engagement advance their efforts in concrete ways. http://bit.ly/An5NC6
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NYLC Webinar: Youth Action in Improving Teen Driver Safety
Tuesday, February 28th, 4:00-5:00pm Central
Car crashes remain the number one cause of death for adolescents. But NYLC's Project Ignition program is bringing together students, teachers, and communities to create change and save lives. Learn how youth teams are taking leadership in their schools and communities, and gain ideas for how to engage more youth as leaders addressing this issue. http://bit.ly/ywsEvU
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Generation Opportunity Grassroots Training Guides
Generation Opportunity seeks to educate and organize young Americans on the challenges facing our nation. Generation Opportunity training guides are quick, easy guides that capture the energy and lessons from organizers around the country on how to have an impact in your community and the national debate. Guides include how to organize, write a blog or press release, host a town hall meeting, speak to the media -- and more. http://bit.ly/y9eMXr
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Service Calendars
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Conferences & Events
Building a Grad Nation Summit March 18-21, 2012 - Washington, DC National Youth Service Summit March 30 - April 1, 2012 - Cincinnati, OH National AfterSchool Association Conference
April 2-4, 2012 - Dallas, TX National Service-Learning Conference April 11-14, 2012 - Minneapolis, MN Best Of Out-of-School Time Conference April 25-28, 2012 - Palm Springs, CA National Conference on Volunteering & Service June 18-20, 2012 - Chicago, IL |
Seasons of Service
February 2012
Random Acts of Kindness Week - February 13-19
International Mother Language Day - February 21
National Eating Disorders Awareness Week -
February 26 - March 3
March 2012
Best Buddies Month - March
Youth Art Month - March
National Nutrition Month - March
Great American Cleanup - March 1 - May 31
World Book Day - March 1
Read Across America Day - March 2
Teen Tech Week - March 4-10
International Women's Day - March 8
Girl Scout Week - March 11-17
Absolutely Incredible Kid Day - March 15
Areyvut Make a Difference Day - March 16-18
World Water Day - March 22
National Youth Violence Prevention Week -
March 19-23
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Song of the Week
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Jon Bon Jovi - "We Weren't Born to Follow"
This week at the Friends of National Service Awards Reception in Washington, DC, Jon Bon Jovi received the Citizen Service Award from Voices for National Service for investing in the civic health of our nation through support of national service.
"This one goes out to the man who mines for miracles
This one goes out to the ones in need
This one goes out to the sinner and the cynical
This ain't about no apology
This road was paved by the hopeless and the hungry
This road was paved by the winds of change
Walking beside the guilty and the innocent
How will you raise your hand when they call your name?
Believe that the sun will shine tomorrow
And that your saints and sinners bleed
We weren't born to follow
You gotta stand up for what you believe." |
The Editor
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 Mike Minks Director of Outreach and Innovation
Editor-in-Chief @michaelminks |
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