GLOBAL YOUTH SERVICE DAY ACTION FUND

1. Young people should have a voice in the policies and problems that affect them.
2. Youth need adult allies, partners, and resources.
3. Young people are not some distant "hope of tomorrow"; they are very much the hope of today, leading efforts to improve their communities across the United States and around the world.

Public Advocacy - Community Improvement

Encourage young people to change the world by supporting the Global Youth Service Day Action Fund. In 2007, Youth Service America and its partners provided 322 youth, teachers, and organizations with a total of $382,000 in micro-service grants to support youth-led projects.

Global Youth Service Day is the largest service event in the world, and in 2008, more than three million young people in 118 countries will take responsibility for addressing the most critical problems in the world, including global climate change, poverty, malaria, illiteracy, HIV-AIDS, hunger, homelessness, and water scarcity. The Millennium Development Goals are a particular interest to many Global Youth Service Day participants.

With more than half the Earth’s population under 25 years old, the world needs the amazing energy, commitment, idealism, and ingenuity of its young people. The Global Youth Service Day Action Fund invests in the participation of youth, equipping them to find their voice, take action, and have impact.

Global Youth Service Day ( www.GYSD.org ) and the Global Youth Service Day Action Fund are programs of Youth Service America ( www.YSA.org ), a nonprofit resource center working to expand youth voice and participation around the world.