Karma for Cara Microgrants help fund exceptional service projects led by youth 18 and under working to better their communities. Read about our microgrant recipient, Nicole, a 17-year-old involved in a group called YES (Youth Encounter Service). YES helps people in poverty by fixing up their houses and also donate their time to soup kitchens and other charities.

1. What inspired you to join “YES”?

I really wanted to help others and give back to my community, so this was a good way of doing that!…

Karma for Cara Microgrants help fund exceptional service projects led by youth 18 and under working to better their communities. Read about our microgrant recipient, Lalah, a 15-year-old who organized a day to teach 6th-8th grade girls about women in leadership/elected positions.

1. What inspired your Gold Star Award Project?

Being a Girl Scout since kindergarten inspired me to earn the Girl Scout Gold Award. I’ve always planned on doing my Gold Award. As I got older, I realized that there are many benefits to earning the Gold Award (like college scholarships and the sense of achieving such a big project) and I set a goal of completing the award before my 16th birthday….

Karma for Cara Microgrants help fund exceptional service projects led by youth 18 and under working to better their communities. Read about our microgrant recipient, Anela, a 15-year-old who creates activity bags to share with pediatric cancer patients in hospitals around Lexington,KY.

1. What inspired you to start the Give, Love, Hope Project?

After shaving my head for cancer patients in 2012 I realized I could make a difference in the world. Community service became a very important part of my life….

Karma for Cara Microgrants help fund exceptional service projects led by youth 18 and under working to better their communities. Read about our microgrant recipient, Joseph, a 16-year-old who along with three other juniors purchased toys for a local children’s hospital.

1.What inspired you to start Steps for Humanity?

Whenever something unfortunate happened in my community, I would always wish that I could do something to help out the people who had suffered. One day, I had a realization that I could help both my local and global community regardless of my age and time constraints and as a result, I became set on turning my thoughts into actions….

Karma for Cara Microgrants help fund exceptional service projects led by youth 18 and under working to better their communities. Read about our microgrant recipient Matthew, a 14-year-old who founded New Kicks for Kids in January 2015 to provide new shoes for kids living in homeless shelters.

1. What inspired you to start New Kicks for Kids?

I volunteer regularly with my church chamber orchestra by playing music at nursing homes, hospitals and homeless shelters. Once we were playing at a homeless shelter lunch and I saw several people crying….

Karma for Cara Microgrants help fund exceptional service projects led by youth 18 and under working to better their communities. Read about our microgrant recipient, Laya, a 13-year-old who teaches first grade students about homelessness. In addition to the educational component, she also organizes activities to provide assistance to those experiencing homelessness.

1. What inspired you to start this project?

My project, All Hands In Baltimore, has two distinct purposes: not only do I make projects to help the less fortunate, I also get the opportunity to teach and guide first graders and fill them with the same eagerness to help others that I experienced in first grade….

Karma for Cara Microgrants help fund exceptional service projects led by youth 18 and under working to better their communities. Read about our microgrant recipient, Corinne, a 15-year-old founder of Warm Winters. Warm Winters works with ski resorts in eight states collecting unclaimed warm clothing and accessories to be donated to people experiencing homeless. 

1. What inspired you to start Warm Winters?

When I was 11 years old, I noticed a homeless man on the streets near my house dressed in just a t-shirt and jeans on a bitterly cold winter’s day….

 CHICAGO, IL. December 18, 2015 – Redwood Logistics (‘Redwood’), a strategically-integrated logistics provider, has partnered with Walgreens, a Redwood Multimodal customer, to organize a drive to collect and donate kits containing personal essentials to the Lincoln Park Community Shelter (‘LPCS’). The LPCS works to help out the homeless around Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood.

Maysem Alsaidi, a Redwood employee, began the effort back in mid-November by contacting LPCS about donating clothing. The shelter had more of a need for food, as Thanksgiving was near, so she held an office drive that collected nearly $300 which was used to purchase over two full carts of groceries for donation….

Karma for Cara Microgrants help fund exceptional service projects led by youth 18 and under working to better their communities. Read about our microgrant recipient, Joe, a mentor and tutor who organized the creation of a new library at the Carver Community Center.

1. What inspired you to volunteer at the Carver Community Center?

As a sophomore, I decided to participate in the community service program at my school. Ever since, I have absolutely loved mentoring and tutoring our young scholars in the program;…

Karma for Cara Microgrants help fund exceptional service projects led by youth 18 and under working to better their communities. Read about our microgrant recipient, Riley, a 15-year-old who started Rainbow Pack, an organization that distributes new backpacks full of homework supplies to students throughout the Los Angeles area. 

1.  How did you become involved with Rainbow Pack?

I am the founder of Rainbow Pack. I started Rainbow Pack 5 years ago, at 10 years old, after a school field trip to a local elementary school….