Children for Children: Plan a community project
Want to make a difference but need some guidance? CFC can guide youth step-by-step with Plan A Community Project and three helpful worksheets to implement a successful idea.

Project Plan-It!
A service of Youth Service of America, Project Plan-It! is an easy interactive series of questions and templates that allow you and your friends to plan your service project or program.

Real-Life Project Ideas
Need an idea? Take a look at the more than 300 specific projects that have actually been carried out over the past several years by young people who have won Prudential Spirit of Community Awards.

World Wise Schools: How can I make a difference?
Find useful information about how to select, plan, prepare, carry out, reflect on, and celebrate a service project.

ZOOM into Action
The ZOOM Into Action site offers lots of great ideas on how to get involved in your community; tips on how to get started, volunteer stories, printable signs for your project, and more.

Be the Change!
How can you get involved?
You can submit a funding proposal for a project that addresses a need you see in your community. If you're between the ages of 12 and 25, Be the Change! can help you find the funding to get your project up and running. You can also browse the proposals already submitted to Be the Change! for ideas on what you can do in your community.

What have others done?
Kuheli, a 15-year-old girl in northern India, saw that children in a local area were not being properly vaccinated. Under Be The Change!, she implemented an immunization program and has vaccinated dozens of children. A 15-year-old in Vietnam saw that young girls in her village were often unable to go to school; the village's lack of a well forced them to spend their days carrying water back and forth from the next village. In response, she is using Be The Change! funding to build a well in her town so the girls will be able to attend school. George, a 19-year-old from Mozambique, felt that his area was suffering from severe deforestation as people were cutting down trees for firewood. Through Be The Change! he researched, invented, and marketed a solar cooker, allowing people to use the sun, instead of wood, to cook their food.

Global Citizen Corps
How can you get involved?
The Global Citizen Corps (GCC) gives young leaders in the United States the training and resources they need to raise awareness and take action in the fight against poverty. GCC student leaders take part in an innovative training program designed to deepen their understanding of globalization, poverty, and international development, and to help them develop the skills necessary to mobilize their peers to effect lasting social change. If you want to make a difference in the lives of the world's poor, or if you think we can do more to tackle problems like HIV/AIDS and hunger, then become part of a growing movement of young people who are making poverty history. Check out GCC's website for upcoming application deadlines.

Global Youth Connect
How can you get involved?
Global Youth Connect encourages young people around the world to take action on human rights and social justice. The site connects young activists with related educational programs, conferences, scholarships, and grants. Join the network to learn how you can get involved online and in your community.

What have others done?
Hafsat Abiola works to promote democracy in Nigeria. Hari Acharya works with young Bhutanese who are living in refugee camps in Nepal and India. Annie Brisibe is working to stop environmental destruction in the Niger Delta. Visit the website to read more about these activists and others.

Helpful Hands
How can you get involved?
Helpful Hands is a group of kids, teens, and adults who do community service projects throughout the year. Jamie Ridgely started Helpful Hands when she was 9 years old, and the organization now has local chapters in the United States, Canada, China, and Germany. For project ideas and tips on starting a service project in your community, read the Starter Kit on the Helpful Hands website.

What have others done?
Previous Helpful Hands projects include collecting canned goods, school supplies, and warm clothing; having parties for the elderly; making baby bibs; putting together Thanksgiving meals; and collecting suitcases for foster children.

Kids Care Clubs
How can you get involved?
You can start a Kids Care Club in your community. Kids Care Clubs, an initiative of the Points of Light Foundation, are groups of young people who work together to help others in their communities and around the world. Clubs are formed in schools, churches, synagogues, Volunteer Centers, community centers, homeless shelters, and other community-based organizations. The program provides new service projects to Clubs each month. These projects include step-by-step instructions, compassion and issues education, meeting activities, additional resources related to the project, and information on possible partners. In addition, Clubs are provided with a startup manual, a monthly e-newsletter, information on other clubs, and other related activities and resources. There are currently 1,400 Kids Care Clubs in countries including the United States, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, and Nepal.

What have others done?
Kids Care Club projects are centered on issues such as literacy, hunger, poverty, the sick and the elderly, or seasons of service such as Martin Luther King Day, Earth Day, and Veteran's Day. Kids Care Clubs have prepared "Giggle Bags" for the local children's hospital, collected school supplies and backpacks for kids in need, sent garden tools and seeds to families in Haiti, sorted food at a local food pantry, and cheered the elderly with visits and gifts.

NRDC's Green Squad
How can you get involved?
Green Squads are groups of kids who help make sure that their schools are healthy, safe places for both humans and the environment. On the Green Squad website you can explore a virtual school to learn how to identify environmental problems in your school and find solutions that can keep students and the environment healthy. Then, visit the site's "library" section to learn how to start a Green Squad at your school. Work with other students and an advisor to use what you've learned to help fix environmental problems like diesel buses and dripping faucets.

TakingITGlobal
How can you get involved?
TakingITglobal offers a variety of ways that you can connect with young people around the world who share your interests. TakingITglobal offers a starter kit for organizing workshops around events, issues, and ideas that are important to you; they have online discussions where you can share your ideas; and they publish online articles written by members of the TakingITglobal network. In addition, TakingITglobal offers databases of funding resources and youth organizations and a calendar of events around the world that concern young people. Available in Arabic, English, French, Russian, and Spanish.

The Jane Goodall Institute Roots & Shoots Program
How can you get involved?
You can start a Roots & Shoots program in your school. Jane Goodall, a scientist who has spent most of her life studying and working with chimpanzees in Africa, started Roots & Shoots to encourage young people to be more involved in the world around them. Roots & Shoots programs carry out projects focused in three areas: the environment, animals, and the human community. There are over 6,000 Roots & Shoots groups in more than 87 countries.

What have others done?
Roots & Shoots clubs have planted trees and flowers in their school yards and neighborhoods, built birdhouses, studied endangered species, worked at local animal shelters, and volunteered at soup kitchens and homeless shelters.

YouthActionNet
How can you get involved?
On the YouthActionNet site you can share your stories and opinions about helping your community, join discussion groups, and find hundreds of youth leadership organizations in their organization directory. The site also offers databases of volunteer opportunities, internships, and youth-related events happening around the world. Their "Toolkit" offers pamphlets on subjects such as how to find funding for your project. You can also apply for a $500 YouthActionNet Award which they've created to help promote social change and connect youth with their local communities.

Youth As Resources
How can you get involved?
You can design and lead your own community projects with support and training from a local Youth As Resources chapter. Youth as Resources is an organization that can help you (if you're between the ages of 5 and 21) find funding and adult assistance in your community to get your project started.

What have others done?
Some of the projects that Youth As Resources programs have worked on are: growing fruits and vegetables for soup kitchens and homeless shelters; painting murals to beautify school grounds; rejuvenating abandoned neighborhood lots and playgrounds; creating hotlines, counseling groups, and resource materials for teens; and preparing home-cooked meals for single expectant mothers and senior citizens.

Youth Crime Watch
How can you get involved?
You can start a Youth Crime Watch (YCW) group in your school or neighborhood. The purpose of YCW is to get young people to take the lead in creating crime-free, drug-free communities. The site is in English, French, Polish, Romanian, and Spanish. Click on 'International.'

What have others done?
Youth Crime Watch groups have participated in a variety of activities including: crime reporting; youth patrols; drug, crime, and violence education; bus safety; mentoring; conflict resolution; mediation; peer- and cross-age teaching; and action projects.

The Source
How can you get involved?
The Source is the Australian government's youth affairs website. The Big Picture has resources to help you get involved with environmental issues, world affairs, and more.

Binky Patrol
How can you get involved?
The Binky Patrol is a national nonprofit organization that makes handmade blankets and gives them to children who have experienced trauma or are ill, abused, or in foster care. Binkies can be sewn, knitted, crocheted, or quilted. You can help by making a binky, starting a local Binky Patrol Chapter, delivering binkies, or making promotional materials.

What have others done?
There are over 160 Binky Patrol chapters across the United States. Many youth organizations and schools have chosen the Binky Patrol as a community service project. Visit the Binky Patrol website for pattern ideas and to see photos of some of the blankets donated through the program.

Building with Books
How can you get involved?
You can start a Building with Books club online or in your school. Building with Books clubs offer high school students the chance to take action locally and globally at the same time. Club members organize community service projects and raise money to help purchase materials for partner schools in Latin America, South Asia, and Africa.

What have others done?
Each Building with Books club is involved in an ongoing weekly service project. Club members tutor and mentor younger students, visit children in hospitals, collect food for the homeless, work in soup kitchens, and spend time with the elderly.

DoSomething.org
How can you get involved?
You can join the Do Something Network, which includes students from around the United States who are participating in community projects supported by Do Something. You can bring the Do Something Network to your school and enter to win a $500 Reaction Grant.

What have others done?
The Do Something Action Guide has lists of actions you can take to get involved with issues such as the environment, domestic violence, child abuse, drugs, eating disorders, and gun violence.

Earth Tomorrow
How can you get involved?
You can make a difference for tomorrow, today, by joining the National Wildlife Federation Earth Tomorrow network! Members of Earth Tomorrow—high school students from across the nation—are the leaders of tomorrow whose commitment to their local environment is having a positive effect on the future of the planet at large. Earth Tomorrow offers opportunities for high school students to learn more about environmental current events, develop community conservation projects, gain workplace and leadership skills, and explore environmental careers. You can start an Earth Tomorrow club in your high school or join the Earth Tomorrow network by enrolling in an existing club or community group.

What have others done?
Earth Tomorrow clubs across the country have developed action project plans to make a difference where they live. Projects include watershed restoration, recycling, in-school water quality monitoring, and the creation of National Wildlife Federation-certified Schoolyard.

Teen Freedom Corps
How can you get involved?
Five students from Northern Highlands Regional High School in Allendale, NJ began this organization to make civic and community service more efficient. To form a Teen Freedom Corps chapter in your school, visit the TFC website for an application.

What have others done?
Each chapter of TFC honors community heroes, encourages teens to vote, hosts a community service fair, and trains teen leaders.

Youth NOISE
How can you get involved?
The "Take Action" section of Youth Noise has ideas and advice on starting your own volunteer projects, fundraising for your project, and how to get involved with policy making.

Youth Venture
How can you get involved?
You can become a Youth Venturer! Youth Venture is a U.S. nonprofit organization that empowers young people ages 12 to 20 by providing them with all the tools necessary to create civic-minded organizations, clubs, or businesses. It provides access to a variety of resources including: scholarships, awards, special conference invites, a national network of like-minded young people, media opportunities, technical allies, and up to $1000 in seed capital for Youth Venturers to launch their own organizations.

What have others done?
Examples of successful ventures are: creating a tee-shirt company with positive social messages, the building of a community greenhouse, starting a basketball league for inner city youth and starting a young mothers network in Washington, DC to address the needs and concerns of teen moms. Read about other successful teams here.

Youth Volunteer Corps
How can you get involved?
The Youth Volunteer Corps is made up of teams of young people engaging in service projects that are challenging, rewarding, and educational. Visit the website to learn how to start a YVC group in your community or locate an existing team in your area.

What have others done?
As part of a YVC team, you can select the kinds of service projects that interest you. Past projects have included tutoring elementary school students, building homes for the homeless, putting on skits for children, removing graffiti and painting murals, and cleaning up parks and neighborhoods.

Ellen Dougherty Activist Fund
The Ellen Dougherty Activist Fund provides grants of up to $2000 to women 19 and under who propose to develop and lead projects focused on activism and social change. The application deadlines are February 15 and August 15 of each year.

Peace Child International
Peace Child offers financial support and advice to young people around the world to create and complete a variety of different projects in their communities.

TakingITGlobal
TakingITGlobal offers a database of scholarships, grants, fellowships, and awards for young people around the world.

YouthActionNet Awards
Youth Action Net offers $500 Awards for young people who are working on projects that support social change and are helping to connect youth with their local communities. Youth Action Net has also developed a Fundraising Toolkit that offers advice and ideas on how to fund for your project, from putting together a fundraising event and finding local supporters to writing a grant proposal.

Youth As Resources
Youth As Resources encourages youth-led and youth-designed community projects. They help young people from ages 5 to 21 to find funding sources and adult assistance within their communities to get their projects going.

The Foundation for Young Australians
The Foundation for Young Australians offers grants of up to Aus$10,000 to young people with project ideas that are considered to benefit the Australian community through the findings or achievements of the person conducting the project.

The Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes
The Barron Prize awards $2000 to young people from diverse backgrounds who have organized and led an extraordinary service activity to benefit other people, animals, or the planet. Ask an adult who is not related to you and has solid knowledge of your project to nominate you. Nominees must be between the ages of 8 and 18.

European Commission YOUTH Programme
The European Commission's YOUTH Programme offers financial support to young people, ages 15 to 25, who are residents of 31 European countries and who have a project idea that they'd like to implement in their community. In addition to financial support, the programme provides information, training, and opportunities for young people to develop partnerships and networking opportunities with organizations in other European countries.

Bank of America Youth Entrepreneur Awards for New York City
Bank of America and Citizens for NYC have teamed up to offer technical assistance and awards of up to $2,500 to youth entrepreneurs between the ages of 12 and 22 who live in New York City and run a small business or community organization.

Brower Youth Awards
The Brower Youth Awards, a program of Earth Island Institute, recognize the efforts of environmental leaders ages 13 to 22. Six prizes of $3000 each are given out yearly.

Citizens for NYC
Under "Youth Solutions" click on "Community Service Leadership" and learn more about Youth for Youth grants and other ways to get funding for your project in the city of New York.

Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes
The Barron Prize awards $2000 to young people from diverse backgrounds who have organized and led an extraordinary service activity to benefit other people, animals, or the planet. Ask an adult who is not related to you and has solid knowledge of your project to nominate you. Nominees must be between the ages of 8 and 18.

Hazen Foundation
The Edward W. Hazen Foundation is foundation which supports youth organizing groups and seeks to help young people, particularly minorities and those disadvantaged by poverty, to achieve their full potential. Check out their site to learn more about the foundation's current funding interests.

National 4-H Youth Grants Program
The Grants Management Team of National 4-H Council offers grants for youth in local communities, in counties, and on the state level. Youth take the lead in the design of the project, the proposal writing process, the implementation, and the evaluation of funded projects.

Third Wave Foundation
Through Third Waves grants and scholarships, the organization provides direct financial support to young women activists (ages 15 to 30) and the organizations they lead, helping them get the resources needed to help change their communities.

Prudential Spirit of Community Awards
The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards honor young people in middle and high school grades for outstanding volunteer service to their communities. Over the past ten years, the program has honored more than 60,000 young volunteers.

W.K. Kellogg Youth Innovation Fund
The Kellogg Foundation Youth Innovation Fund is an initiative supporting diverse groups of young people creating lasting change in their communities. Youth can apply for grants that aim to support youth leadership and innovation at various sites across the United States.

Youth Venture
Youth Venture offers up to $1,000 in start-up funds and all the support necessary to launch your own civic-minded organization, club, or business.

Youth NOISE
Youth Noise offers grants up to $1,000 to support youth-led projects designed to improve members' communities or schools. To qualify for a Youth Noise grant your project must be sponsored by a nonprofit organization or school and have at least one adult advisor. Applicants must be members of Youth Noise (membership is free). Youth Noise also features a handy list of awards, grants, and scholarships.

Youth Service America Grants
Youth Service America offers a number of grants and awards that support and motivate youth and youth-serving organizations to plan and implement projects for National Youth Service Day and ongoing service throughout the year. Visit the site to learn more about the grants you are eligible for.

Constitutional Rights Foundation
On CRF's website you can catch up on world, national, and local events, read articles on today's pressing political issues, and express your own ideas and opinions about people, places, and events of interest to young people everywhere.

Freechild Project
Freechild works with young people and adults around the world to share the most powerful examples and resources available that connect young people and social change.

Global Youth Connect
Global Youth Connect is devoted to inspiring, supporting, and connecting youth who are working to protect human rights around the world.

Project 540
Project 540 was created to get students more involved in their schools and their communities. By engaging in dialogue both online and on campus students are encouraged to take action on the issues that matter most to them. Make sure to check out their Student Organizing Guide, Civic Resource Guide, and Civic Action Plans for more ideas on how to become a part of this initiative.

Random Kid
Random Kid empowers children across the United States to solve real-world problems by guiding them through the necessary steps, teaching them the appropriate skills, and creating opportunities to tap into a variety of resources. Sign up as a Random Kid volunteer to get the support you need to make your ideas a reality.

Seattle Young People's Project
The Seattle Young People's Project is a youth-led, adult-supported organization that empowers youth (ages 13 to 18) to express themselves and to take action on the issues that affect their lives.

Sierra Student Coalition
The Sierra Student Coalition is a network of high school and college students from around the United States working to protect the environment. There are over 250 affiliated groups based at schools around the country. Like the Sierra Club, the SSC is run by volunteers who work on national and local campaigns that promote smart energy solutions and protect the environment.

Soundout.org's Student Action Map
Check out Soundout.org's Action map. Click on the region of the United States you are interested in for examples and resources that highlight student-led activism for school change.

Tobacco-Free Kids Youth Action
If you are interested in taking action in the fight against tobacco but aren't sure how to get started check out Tobacco-Free Kids' "idea market" where you can exchange ideas with other young activists. Join the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids or find out about other ways you can get involved in anti-tobacco youth advocacy efforts.

U.S. Youth Network for Sustainable Development
If you are passionate about sustainable development topics you can join SustainUS and participate in discussion lists, regional meetings and events, and campaigns related to social, economic, and environmental sustainability issues.

Youth Activism Project
The Youth Activism Project strives to encourage young people to speak up and pursue lasting solutions to problems they care deeply about. Sign up for their free newsletter, read about lots of great youth-led initiatives, and check out the organizations' resources and materials on how to go about becoming a young activist.

Youth Pac's Youth Action Center
Youth Pac's goal is to aid the youth movement by supporting organizations and individuals to promote youth involvement and empowerment. Sign up for action alerts, find your elected officials, and browse the many areas in which others have taken action.

Youth Speaks
By combining public performance and publication opportunities with educational workshops, mentoring programs, and cooperative learning, Youth Speaks encourages active literacy, honest writing, and critical thought.

Idealist.org

The Source

YouthActionNet