14 year old Abbey used her Karma for Cara microgrant to assemble 65 dental care kits & deliver them to the current residents at Place of Hope Children’s Shelter in Florida. When Abbey was 11, she founded her own non-profit Hygiene for the Hopeful so she had experience with providing dental & other personal care kits to children prior to this project.

Karma for Cara microgrant recipient Sydney (17) & volunteers built a children’s center for fifth through eighth grade children at Life Haven, a shelter for pregnant women and single mothers. Prior to construction, older & younger children co-existed in a space that was often loud and full of toys and commotion.  After construction, the older children have a quiet area to do homework, work on projects, and socialize together. 

Cousins Michael (12), William (9), Christopher (9), and Kevin (7) made care packages for senior citizens with their microgrant. Having previously distributed small packages at the VA center in San Francisco, the boys needed help to produce a larger quantity of packages with more useful items and worked with Meals On Wheels to distribute the packages to seniors.

17 year old microgrant recipient Frishta from Anaheim, CA used her award to facilitate a service day run by youth for youth. The purpose was to provide vital health education to African-American and Latino children in low-income, minority neighborhoods who are overwhelmingly developing diabetes and heart-disease. Local high school students were recruited as volunteers to carry out a free health literacy workshop. Frishta hopes this event will strengthen her community as well as raise awareness around these preventative health issues.

15 year old microgrant recipient Christine from Redmond, WA used her award to create an outreach program for minority groups that are underrepresented in STEM related career fields. Her project missions are to make a science education accessible to everyone regardless of their financial backgrounds and getting more girls involved in STEM. Christine worked with a local Girl Scouts Troop and hosted a free workshop for girls to try STEM experiments in order to educate them and hopefully spark their interest over the long term.

Microgrant recipients & twin brothers Joshua and Benjamin from Eugene, OR used their award to modify toy ride ons (think: dumptrucks) as an alternative to wheelchairs for young children with physical disabilities. The modified cars actually help kids make friends better than a wheelchair would because the toy cars look fun and attract other kids.

Siblings Carter (16) and Caragan (14) co-founded the nonprofit BrightYoungDyslexics. Inspired by Caragan’s experiences and challenges with dyslexia, Carter and Caragan support other young dyslexics via their nonprofit. With their Karma for Cara grant, they were able to run a dyslexia simulation event at a school to raise awareness about dyslexia and provide information to teachers, students and parents about the resources available to assist dyslexic students.

Karma for Cara Foundation awards microgrants to youths 18 years of age and younger who spearhead exceptional service projects in their communities. A special needs young woman herself, recipient Caroline used her microgrant to build multiple activity stations on a therapeutic riding trail in Georgia. The stations vary every week so riders never experience the same activity twice.

12 year old Grace and her non-profit We Cancerve used K4C microgrant funds to create wearable blankets for kids receiving chemo and other infusions in Baltimore, MD area hospitals. She partnered with a craft store, hosted poncho-making parties during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, and then distributed the wearable blankets over the following two months. 

We remain committed to sending copies of Cara Cookie Volunteers, the true story of Cara’s first experience as a volunteer, to schools & libraries at no charge—500 copies to date! We’ve partnered with & supported two year old HORIZON DAY CAMP-Baltimore by providing a free summer camp experience & year-round programming for cancer patients & their siblings. Finally our partnership with LIVING CLASSROOMS FOUNDATION & the #InspiredToServe program established in honor of Cara who was an intern there continues to thrive!