Youth Service America (YSA’s) We Serve to Remember 9/11 Day of Service Grants 2024

Youth Service America (YSA’s) We Serve to Remember 9/11 Day of Service Grants 2024 – It’s been more than two decades since 9/11/01. Honor and commemorate the sacrifices made that day by remembering the heroes, armed forces, first responders, and countless others’ acts of service to defend our nation’s freedom. On 9/11 Day of Service, Americans of all ages and backgrounds are again invited to join and lead community service projects to honor the lives and service of those we lost on September 11.

YSA’s We Serve to Remember 9/11 Day of Service Grants are for organizations, schools, and youth changemakers—aged 5 to 25—to lead service projects on or around September 11, 2024. Programming efforts should also honor and pay tribute to those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001, their families, and those who rose in service in response to that tragedy. (We suggest starting with eleven reflections about 9/11/01 and related ideas for service or service-learning projects.)

This year, YSA will award up to 100 grants of $1,000 each. Grantees are required to engage at least 100 youth as volunteers in planning and implementing the service activities. 80% of the required youth volunteers must identify as youth who are not usually asked to serve and who face systemic barriers to participation. These include:

• Young people of color (Black, Hispanic, Asian, and Indigenous youth);
• Youth from underserved low-income families and neighborhoods; and
• Youth who are often beneficiaries of service, rather than participants in service (youth in rural communities, youth who are homeless, youth in foster care, youth with disabilities, youth in the juvenile justice system, youth who are immigrants or refugees, youth from military families, youth who are LGBTQ+, and youth who are English language learners).

What are we looking for?

• Projects must be youth-led;
• Projects must include elements to honor and pay tribute to those who lost their lives on 9/11, their families, and those who rose in service in response;
• Projects must take place on or around September 11th National Day of Service and Remembrance (September 11, 2024);
• At least 80% of youth volunteers must identify as youth who are not usually asked to serve and who face systemic barriers to participation; and
• Applicants must be based in the United States, and activities must benefit people in the United States. This includes American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Washington, D.C

We Serve to Remember Grants are federally funded. As such, proposed activities may not include those listed under Title 45, Section 2520.65 of the Code of Federal Regulations. Grantees are also required to provide evidence of volunteer participation and number of hours served. Approved documention includes sign in sheets, copies of pre-and-post-surveys, or reports from school attendance or volunteer management system. These documents must contain a unique identifier for each volunteer, such as the volunteer’s full first and last name, their full first name and last initial, or a volunteer/student ID number.

Reflecting on the spirit of togetherness that brought people together in the days, weeks, and months after September 11th, we are especially looking for ideas that bring together all members of the community.

All applications are due by 11:59 pm your local time on Sunday, June 23, 2024.

If you have questions as you’re completing your application or about this year’s program, please check out the answers to some Frequently Asked Questions. If your question is not addressed there, you can contact the We Serve to Remember grant administrator Katie Reusch (she/her) at [email protected].

For more Information: Visit the website for Youth Service America (YSA’s) We Serve to Remember 9/11 Day of Service Grants 2024