Karma for Cara Foundation awards microgrants to youths 18 years of age and younger who spearhead exceptional service projects in their communities.  Ada (12) from Harrison, AK used her award for Hope Chest, an ongoing project helping children of all ages entering foster care. Ada and volunteers purchased & assembled backpacks full of necessities and goodies such as toothbrushes, socks, underwear, toys, hair combs, shampoo, hair ties, deodorant, and other things depending on gender and age. She partnered with a local Department of Human Services worker to track the success and usage of Hope Chest in her county. 

1. What inspired you to start this project? An adult inspired us to start this project. While listening to a story about her foster care experience, an idea sparked in our heads. What if we could change the way children feel about the foster care system for just one night? What if we could provide hope to those who need it most? Soon after, we put our brains together and thought of Hope Chest!
2. Other than you, how many student (under 18) volunteers participated in your service project? 2
3. Other than you, how many adult (18+) volunteers participated in your service project? 2
4. How many hours did you spend on your project? 180
5. How many hours did other volunteers spend on your project? 8
6. How many individuals were affected by your project? 75
7. During the time period between when you applied for a K4C microgrant & when you completed the project, what surprised you? In between the application and finalization of our project, the impact of our project surprised us. Starting our project, we knew that there was an urgent need for emergency foster care supplies, but we didn’t know that these supplies would affect the lives beyond foster children.  The adult who inspired Hope Chest told us that these bags will not only prepare foster children for the future, but will also prepare the newly alerted foster families. This truly surprised and encouraged us to keep going, knowing that this project could change more lives than ever.
8. Overall what did you learn from this experience? From this experience, we have learned that every little thing ACTUALLY counts. What might seem like a no-brainer purchase for us could mean the world to someone else. For example, a brand new tube of toothpaste supplied by Hope Chest could be the only new toothpaste a child receives all year. When we started thinking like this, we began to slowly learn more every day about our project, which led to an overall new mentality.
9. How will your project continue having an impact in the future? In the future, we are looking to expand Hope Chest to a new, sophisticated level. We are currently researching and getting data, but we are working towards providing funding to college scholarship foster children. We have reached out to multiple colleges, and are currently reaching out to local high schools.
10. How was the K4C microgrant helpful in the completion of your project? Without the K4C microgrant, we wouldn’t have been able to complete our project. The grant provided Hope Chest with a sustainable budget to purchase backpack items. We filled 75 backpacks with essential items like pajamas, underwear, socks, deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrush, floss, shampoo/body wash, hairbrushes, and feminine products. The grant also supplied us with funding to fill baby backpack items like diapers, blankets, wipes, socks, and baby pajamas.