Leadership La Porte County is pleased to announce funding for youth-led community service projects is now available through the Youth to Youth (Y2Y) program. Youth groups or individual youth in La Porte County are eligible to apply for mini grants to carry out community service projects that will meet local needs.  

“Y2Y is a unique opportunity for youth to make an impact in carrying out projects that benefit the community and grow servant leadership skills. It also provides Y2Y committee members an opportunity to get directly involved in their communities and learn about philanthropy, grant-making, grant-writing, and volunteerism,” stated Monica Komasinski, Executive Director at Leadership La Porte County. “It is our hope that students involved in Y2Y will carry this commitment to philanthropy and community service throughout their lives,” she concluded.

Y2Y is a spin-off of the Leadership La Porte County Youth Program and is a result of collaboration between Leadership La Porte County and the Unity Foundation of La Porte County. The program now celebrates its 10^th year and has funded more than $5,000 to youth-led community projects.

“Unity is delighted to continue its partnership with Leadership La Porte County to invest in La Porte County Youth,” said Shannon Walker, Vice President, Unity Foundation of La Porte County.

“This program offers invaluable leadership and learning experiences for youth to build upon for a lifetime.”

Grant packets are now available upon request by contacting the Leadership office via email at:  info@leadershiplaportecounty.com. The deadline for grant proposals is April 15, 2022. Grants will be reviewed by the youth committee who will invite finalists to a face-to-face interview with the committee. The grant application and project must be completed by youth and must serve a community need.

Grant requests can range from $50 to $500 per project. Youth groups meeting the criteria could include school classes, athletic teams, clubs, neighborhood groups, Scouting groups, 4H clubs, church youth groups, and other organized groups. An adult supervisor is required, but the grant application and project must be youth-led. Any La Porte County youth group or individual youth is welcome to apply.