Karma for Cara Foundation awards microgrants to youths 18 years of age and younger who spearhead exceptional service projects in their communities. Microgrant recipient Andrew (16) from Cape Coral Florida & Youth United supported children in foster care in their community. Through their partnerships with with Children’s Home Society of Florida and the Children’s Network Services of Southwest Florida, they provided tutoring and mentoring as well as monthly birthday parties for youth in foster care.

• What inspired you to start this project? Volunteer events and after school tutoring provided me with insight as to how little foster care children have in my community of SW Florida.
• Other than you, how many student volunteers participated in your service project? 5
• Other than you, how many adult volunteers participated in your service project? 0
• How many hours did you spend on your project? 100
• How many hours did other volunteers spend on your project? 50
• How many individuals were affected by your project? 50
• During the time period between when you applied for a K4C microgrant & when you completed the project, what surprised you? The stories shared by these children: some were heartbreaking & others had eventual happy endings.
• Overall what did you learn from this experience? There was such appreciation from not only the children but from the case workers of the foster care community. I thought my project was on a smaller scale, but it really affected so many-adults included.
• How will your project continue having an impact in the future? I will continue to give back to my community and long term volunteering with youth.
• How was the K4C microgrant helpful in the completion of your project? The grant assisted in paying expenses to supply birthday parties and graduation events that otherwise may not have been able to be purchased. I have decided to continue with this project until my graduation next year.