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YOUTH SERVICE AMERICA AWARDS 25 DISNEYHAND MINNIE GRANTS IN SUPPORT OF GLOBAL YOUTH SERVICE DAY PROJECTS

DisneyHand Supports Service Projects Led By Young Children in 15 Countries Through $500 Grants


WASHINGTON - March 23, 2005 - Twenty-five youth organizations in 15 countries will each receive a $500 DisneyHand Minnie Grant to specifically engage kids ages 5-14 in community service projects around the 6th Annual Global Youth Service Day, April 15-17, 2005. DisneyHand Minnie Grant winners, selected by Youth Service America (YSA) and funded by DisneyHand, worldwide outreach for The Walt Disney Company, will implement service projects that deliver a high level of community service, involve elected officials and the media, and engage youth in service year-round. Seventy-five additional DisneyHand Minnie grants will support service projects in the US in celebration of National Youth Service Day, held in all 50 states.

DisneyHand Minnie Grant Project Examples:
  • In the Mpumalanga area of South Africa, 120 members of the South Africa Scout Association will learn about the importance of nutrition, especially as related to those with HIV/AIDS. They will apply this knowledge by planting a vegetable garden for orphans with HIV/AIDS, families with HIV/AIDS, the School Soup Kitchen, and elderly members of their community.

  • Approximately 100 students in Molodezheny, Kazakhstan will participate in a service-learning project about local veterans and Kazakh history. The students will remodel and expand a local veterans' museum in need of repair. At the finished museum's re-opening, to be held on Kazakhstan Veterans' Day, the children will spend the day with the local veterans, learning about their lives and experiences.

  • In Bobeica, Moldavia, a weeklong project called 'Youth in Action for a Clean Environment' will teach 400 children about the environment and the dangers of pollution. The youth will then plant trees throughout Bobeica and host a clean-up day to revitalize the community and the local river.

  • Members of Girl Scout Troop 21, of Camp Walker Military Base in Korea, will organize 'Operation Out of Sight', holding a collection drive for used prescription glasses, reading glasses and sunglasses. They will then send the glasses to deployed Optometrists, who can give them to the local communities as a gesture of goodwill on the part of the Girl Scout Troop, the military, and the United States.

  • For a listing of winners, please go to: www.GYSD.net or http://www.ysa.org/nysd/local_celeb/nysd_localceleb_parent.cfm

Global Youth Service Day (GYSD) is an annual event organized by Youth Service America with the Global Youth Action Network, together with a consortium of International Organizations and more than 100 National Coordinating Committees. From Brazil and Colombia to Kenya and China, young people around the world are currently organizing community service projects in celebration of Global Youth Service Day. Since 2000, Global Youth Service Day has grown from 27 participating countries to more than 125 countries in 2004. Last year, for example, Russia engaged more than 340,000 youth throughout the country, up from 136,000 the previous year.

"With the help from DisneyHand, hundreds of thousands of volunteers will perform service across the world. The estimated value of their combined effort is priceless to those in need," said Steven A. Culbertson, president and CEO of Youth Service America.

Global Youth Service Day is a public education campaign that highlights the amazing contributions made by youth year-round to their communities through volunteering. Since Global Youth Service Day started in 2000, a number of international organizations have joined Youth Service America and Global Youth Action Network to expand this program, including the Inter-American Development Bank, Youth Employment Summit, IEARN, Service for Peace and others. In the United States, National Youth Service Day, also a program of Youth Service America, is part of Global Youth Service Day. For more information, visit: www.gysd.net.

DisneyHand, worldwide outreach for The Walt Disney Company, is dedicated to making the dreams of families and children a reality through public service initiatives, community outreach and volunteerism in the areas of compassion, learning, the arts and the environment. For more information visit www.disneyhand.com.

Youth Service America is a national nonprofit resource center that partners with thousands of other organizations committed to growing the youth service movement. Youth Service America's programs and services increase the effectiveness, sustainability, and scale of the youth service and service-learning fields on a local, national, and global level. In addition to Global Youth Service Day and National Youth Service Day, happening April 15-17, 2005, YSA also hosts SERVEnet (www.SERVEnet.org), providing the largest database of volunteer opportunities in America. For more information about grant opportunities for Global Youth Service Day, please visit www.YSA.org.

The Global Youth Action Network is a not-for-profit organization that acts as an incubator of global partnerships among youth organizations. Their mission is to facilitate youth participation and intergenerational partnership in global decision-making; to support collaboration among diverse youth organizations; and to provide tools, resources, and recognition for positive youth action. For more information, please go to: www.youthlink.org.