Karma for Cara Foundation awards microgrants to youths 18 years of age and younger who spearhead exceptional service projects in their communities. Shyam (12) from Ann Arbor, MI used his award to fund a service project entitled Kindle Kingdom Summer Literacy Program. In collaboration with the Community of Action Network of Washtenaw County (CAN) ByKids4Kids designed a program to improve the language and literacy outcomes of 1st through 6th grade students. Shyam and other kids involved in ByKids4Kids used Kindles to read to children instead of books because Kindles expose low income kids to technology and reduce paper usage. They want to give all children a chance to be successful in life and promote a lifetime of volunteerism and community service!
- What inspired you to start this project? My grandmother never knew how to read.
- Other than you, how many student volunteers participated in your service project? 44
- Other than that, how many adult volunteers participated in your service project? 10
- How many hours did you spend on your project? 32
- How many hours did other volunteers spend on your project? 1,760
- How many individuals were affected by your project? 48
- During the time period between when you applied for a K4C microgrant & when you completed the project, what surprised you? Honestly, how much more work needs to be done and the issues of cultural competency that we need to address.
- Overall what did you learn from this experience? This was a humbling experience. We learned so much about diversity and teaching literacy to other kids.
- How will your project continue having an impact in the future? We are planning an after-school project and another summer reading program. We are improving our efforts by creating a Best Practices Manual for kids reading to other kids.
- How was the K4C microgrant helpful in the completion of your project? We could not have done this project without the microgrant. The microgrant not only helped us fund the project, but the fund believed in our efforts.
