Karma for Cara Foundation microgrant recipients have competed in an application process alongside other young people who have spearheaded exceptional service projects that benefit their communities. In order to qualify for a K4C award, an applicant must be 18 years of age or younger, and the project must take place in the US.
Microgrant recipient Anna (17) from OH is the president of the Student Alliance for Immigrants and Refugees (SAIR), a student-based organization committed to uplifting & engaging Cincinnati’s immigrant and refugee populations. Students involved with SAIR assemble necessity baskets and produce hand-written notes for an immigrant or refugee family depending on their family/living situation. A packet describing the free services SAIR offers, such as SAT prep classes for high schoolers or a virtual friend for elementary school aged children, is also enclosed.
| What inspired you to start this project? | I was inspired to start this project following a recent influx of Mauritanian immigrants to Cincinnati. Many of these Mauritanians are living in unsafe conditions without proper sanitation or necessities. I decided to create baskets for them to help combat this issue. |
| While working on your project, what surprised you? | While working on this project, I was surprised by how receptive everyone was to the project. I was worried that students from other schools I had never spoken with before would reject my proposal, but I found that students were eager and enthusiastic to participate in a funded program. The grant gave our project a sense of legitimacy for students who had never worked with us before, so I was more confident in my outreach. |
| What do you feel you learned from this experience? | From this experience, I feel that I better came to understand the importance of empathy and compassion. While the material aspect of our project was incredibly valuable for the new families, I also believe that the notes each student wrote welcoming them to the country were a powerful way to practice empathy and connect with the community. |
| How did Karma for Cara impact your project? | Karma for Cara was essential for funding our project. Without Karma for Cara, we would not have been able to finance any aspect of the baskets. |
| How will your project contine to impact others? | I believe that our project inspired more students to engage with Cincinnati-area immigrant and refugee communities. Since reaching out to students from other schools for this project, I have gotten new volunteers for other projects related to immigration. In addition, these baskets helped bring our community closer together and offered great supplies for families just beginning their lives in the United States. |
