Meet 17 year old microgrant recipient Ashna from Austin, TX. Her project, Learn on Your Terms, is inspired by a passion for combating educational disparity. Through her own experience in public education, she was exposed to the gap in educational quality between students from higher and lower income neighborhoods, and through her research, she knows that the disparity can affect job opportunities and future socioeconomic status of the students in low income communities. Learn On Your Terms is a series of divergent elective courses offered to elementary and middle school students through their local library branch that she hopes will empower students to engage in an educational space they are passionate about and comfortable in.

Meet microgrant recipient McKenzie (14) from Jackson, MS. During summers and throughout the school year, she facilitates science workshops at locations such as public libraries, Boys and Girls Clubs, Salvation Army Camps, daycares, church camps and after school programs to spread the love of science and show kids how much fun learning about the world around them can be. The workshops involve fun, hands-on experiments that kids don’t experience in their school classrooms & represent different STEM concepts.

Meet K4C microgrant recipient Jason (15) from Boulder, CO. Jason & the Fairview High School Rotary Interact Club, a student-led club undertaking monthly service projects and fundraising which benefits their community, focused on assisting the homeless in this project. During the cold winter months, they provided blankets & pillows decorated with motivational messages to the homeless community to reduce discomfort & provide warmth.  The club also prepared nutritious meals & baked treats which they dispensed to the homeless.

Karma for Cara Foundation awards microgrants to youths 18 years of age and younger who spearhead exceptional service projects in their communities. Microgrant recipient Christopher (17) from NC used his award to transform a vacant lot in the middle of East Kinston, a historically impoverished & disadvantaged neighborhood, into a neighborhood fruit park. One block over, Kinston Teens, Christopher’s nonprofit youth-led organization, has already transformed a vacant lot into a flower garden.

Meet K4C microgrant recipient Zachary (13) from Florida. His school, Franklin Boys Prep Academy, has a very high free and reduced lunch rate–close to 80%. Since fresh vegetables and fruits are expensive, Zachary organized his classmates and enlisted the help of his social studies teacher, a local garden club, and Feeding America Tampa Bay to grow fruits & vegetables in a community garden on campus and send produce home with students whose families need them on the weekends.

Karma for Cara Foundation awards microgrants to youths 18 years of age and younger who spearhead exceptional service projects in their communities. Microgrant recipient Eden (14) from AZ used her award to establish a menstrual hygiene products closet at the Phoenix Rescue Mission which provides temporary housing to homeless women & children in her community. For girls & women experiencing homelessness across the US, menstrual hygiene products are considered a luxury. Eden hopes her project will support the women in maintaining their dignity & self-respect.

Meet K4C microgrant recipient Carter (17) from Wisconsin. He & his chapter of Future Farmers of America grow and donate fresh garden produce to four area food banks which serve over 1200 families. 

Karma for Cara Foundation awards microgrants to youths 18 years of age and younger who spearhead exceptional service projects in their communities. Meet microgrant recipient Briana (9) from New Rochelle, NY. Briana attends a small K-8 school of about 40 families and wanted to bring everyone together to create a sense of community and “do something great” for a local organization called Project Linus which provides handmade blankets for hospitals specifically for young children. Briana previously volunteered with her mom to make the Project Linus no sew blankets at a local 9/11 Day of Service and shared the experience with students & their families on Family Volunteer Day.

Meet Karma for Cara Foundation microgrant recipient Sanjeev (12) from Decatur, GA. Sanjeev used his award to deliver books & school supplies to migrant children in his community. This is an ongoing project for Sanjeev called DREAM (Donate & Recycle to Educate All Mankind); prior to this particular project, he collected & donated 6,210 books for migrant children. For Sanjeev’s K4C project, he partnered with Hall County Schools & the Right-to-Write Foundation (who provided pens & pencils) to host a school supply /book drive for Georgia Migrant & Seasonal Headstart. 

Karma for Cara Foundation awards microgrants to youths 18 years of age and younger who spearhead exceptional service projects in their communities. After learning that over 20% of her school’s population qualifies as Specialty Resource students–ranging from ADHD to high-functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder–Abigail (17) from Norfolk, VA used her grant to build a Sensory Herb Spiral Garden within her school’s outdoor gardening area. The existing outdoor garden was already dedicated to teaching outdoor gardening, healthy living and environmental issues, and elementary school students visit it once a week as part of the curriculum. Abigail’s research indicated that a sensory garden can be very therapeutic for individuals who suffer from sensory problems & may be used as a calming place and as a gentle way to stimulate the senses. In such a garden, children with sensory processing disorders feel safe & comfortable exploring their senses without feeling overwhelmed by them. For children who do not suffer from a disability, a sensory garden is beneficial in that it is a fun, educational tool that allows them to explore and learn about their senses & nature.