Washington, D.C. – The drive to involve more middle-school youth in service during the summer months got a big boost today from the Corporation for National and Community Service as the agency announced grants totaling $900,000 to six national and local organizations.

The Summer of Service grants will stimulate new or expanded summer service-learning opportunities for middle school youth, mostly from disadvantaged backgrounds. The awards will go to Boys and Girls Clubs of America, Camp Fire USA National Office, Chicago Public Schools – District #299, the Nativity Miguel National Network of Schools (Washington, D.C.), Volunteer Frederick (Frederick, Md.), and Youth Venture New York (Brooklyn).

“When we enable disadvantaged youth in middle school to engage in service over the summer, we make it more likely that they will graduate from high-school and less likely that they’ll become involved with drugs or crime,” said Corporation CEO David Eisner. “Millions of young people are in summer programs and we think there is huge potential for good if more of them serve their communities as part of those programs. These grants will help Boys and Girls Clubs of America, Camp Fire, and other organizations on a path toward building service into their summer programming.”

The grant program builds on the success of the 2007 Summer of Service, which engaged thousands of young people in service in New Orleans, Denver, Charleston, and several locations throughout New Jersey, helping nonprofit organizations engage more youth in service and reach more children and youth in need. Those programs were established when cities sought help in serving disadvantaged youth who had few options for positive activities during the summer months.

This spring, the Corporation released a study that cited the significant benefits to disadvantaged youth of engaging in service, which include becoming more politically engaged, graduating from college, and believing they can make a difference in their communities. The report also noted that youth from disadvantaged circumstances are significantly less likely to have opportunities to serve than those in better educated, more economically successful communities.

The organizations awarded grants are:

• Boys and Girls Clubs of America will receive up to $180,000 to work with 25 of its local Clubs to run an intensive service-learning based curriculum with the goal of increasing the number of youth who see themselves as change agents in their local communities. The organization expects that a total of 600 youth will perform a minimum of 50 hours of volunteer service this summer, thereby qualifying for individual President’s Volunteer Service Awards.
      
• Camp Fire USA National Office was awarded up to $197,505 to work through its local councils to engage at least 2,000 youth from disadvantaged circumstances and those with disabilities in summer service programs. The award will support local Camp Fire councils’ efforts to engage more middle-school youth in service-learning activities and enable the councils to test a variety of service-learning models.
      
• Chicago Public Schools, District #299 seeks to develop Summer of Service curricula, similar to their existing high-school curricula, for middle-school age youth, and work with approximately 500 youth in 20 schools. The program will receive up to $123,151 to encourage 8^th and 9^th grade students, especially those in the federally funded GEAR UP Program (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) to stay in school and make a successful transition to high school.
      
• The Nativity Miguel Network of Schools, which includes 64 schools serving more than 4,300 students in 27 states, will receive up to $86,675 to institute a community-based service learning initiative that encourages each of its schools to submit a student-generated proposal for a Summer of Service project. The organization will select ten network schools to participate in a pilot that will become the model for future participation
      
• Volunteer Frederick, a consortium of 20 Volunteer Centers and complementary organizations from New Jersey to Florida, proposes to use its $200,000 grant to provide sub-grants and training and technical assistance on implementing successful Summer of Service program models in Eastern Seaboard communities. They expect to provide youth development opportunities for 1,325 youth.
      
• Youth Venture New York proposes to work with a partner, Oasis, to make Summer of Service possible for 400 youth in three programs for disadvantaged middle-school youth in Brooklyn and Manhattan. Youth Venture will adapt their Youth Venturers’ Playbook to help these young people, about 25 percent of whom are homeless, start a social venture of their own choosing. Their $112,000 grant will allow them to begin the program as part of a summer camp and continue it as an after-school program throughout the school year.

The Summer of Service initiative is part of the Corporation’s Strategic Plan goal of engaging 3 million children and youth from disadvantaged circumstances in service by 2010. The campaign is sponsored by the Corporation in collaboration with USA Freedom Corps and supported by AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, Learn and Serve America, AmeriCorps VISTA, the National Civilian Community Corps and hundreds of nonprofit organizations nationally. Any organization that works with youth ages 5-21 during the summer months and individual youth is encouraged to become part of the campaign.

The grants announced today will only be a part of the resources that the Corporation will use to support the Summer of Service in 2008. “All of the Corporation’s programs, from VISTA and NCCC, to AmeriCorps, Senior Corps and Learn and Serve America, will be focused on bringing even more service into summer programming for American children, especially middle school youth from disadvantaged circumstances,” Eisner said.

The mission of the Corporation for National and Community Service is to improve lives, strengthen communities, and foster civic engagement through service and volunteering. Providing service opportunities for millions of Americans of all ages and backgrounds, Corporation programs include Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, and Learn and Serve America. For more information, visit nationalservice.gov.

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