Youth Opportunities Fund

The Youth Opportunities Fund (YOF) is an endowed fund for Key Club International held within the Kiwanis International Foundation. This fund, utilizing the interest earned, helps Key Clubs and Key Club members serve the world through grants for service opportunities. The YOF also enables members to improve themselves by providing academic scholarships for higher education. The fund is established through a portion of your Key Club International dues and through the purchase of G. Harold Martin Fellowships.

YOF grants can help you take action. Look around and identify the things that need to get done in your school, community or world. Key Clubs have applied for grant funds to support many varied service projects. Some examples of what YOF has supported includes:

•  Whitney High School Key Club, California-Nevada-Hawaii District – assist the Tijuana Project: three orphanages in Baja, Mexico. The club would take basic necessities such as shampoo, undergarments, soap, and other necessities for the orphans in three orphanages. They would also purchase toys and school supplies for the orphans and put them inside of backpacks and deliver them to the approximately 150 children in the three orphanages.

•  South Fork High School Key Club, Florida District – a true K-Family Literacy Outreach Model: “Books for Babies,” A Young Children: Priority One Literacy Project, sponsored by the K-Family of Key Club, Builders Club, K-Kids and dual Kiwanis clubs. Four trips were taken to read and mentor (providing a total of 600+ books in the four-month period). The YOF Grant funded transportation, substitute coverage and books between Warfield Elementary School Kindergarten and Perkins Early Childhood Head Start Center.

•  Center High School Key Club, Missouri-Arkansas District – purchased tape recorders and provided tapes from the Early Childhood Center to record Books on Tape for the Center. Looking to record some books in Spanish as well as English.

•  Jordan-Matthews High School Key Club, Carolinas District – purchased the book “Love You Forever” for first grade students who learned to read the book and then took the books to an area nursing home and read the books to residents there. Many of the children did not have grandparents so the program allowed them to adopt a grandparent for the day. The Key Club helped with teaching the children to read the book and helped with the interaction at the nursing home.

Grants by the Key Club International Board from the YOF must conform to the Objects of Key Club International. The YOF funds are granted only to Key Clubs and/or club members. The application is included in the Key Club Guidebook, or by clicking here. The YOF Grant Application is included in the Form section of The Guidebook. The Guidelines for filing the YOF Grant Applications are also in the Guidebook under Board Policies. Please review them before completing the application.

There is only one funding cycle for the YOF. The postmark deadline is May 15. The applications must be submitted to the Youth Funds Specialist at Kiwanis International, 3636 Woodview Trace, Indianapolis, IN   46268; or via fax at 317/879-0204.

As outlined in the Key Club International Board Policies, in any one funding cycle, the Grant Review Committee may award up to, but no more than ten percent of the balance of the Youth Opportunities Fund Service Account available at the convening of the committee. If you read the application, clubs may request funding assistance from $200 to $2,000. The committee typically funds those clubs who are asking for a portion of the total cost of the project, and clubs who are working with other organizations to fund and complete the project.

Here are a few suggestions to keep in mind when completing the application.

•  The committee judging the application does not live in your community, so the better you clarify the project, the better the committee can understand the project.

•  Write legibly, or enter the application on a computer utilizing the application format in The Guidebook. If you utilize a computer, the application packet may not exceed three pages.

•  Follow the directions! Do not attach any additional pieces except for the budget.

•  Ensure that all required signatures are included.

•  The project should reflect appropriate planning and ideas that have been thoroughly thought-out.

•  Have someone else read the application to check for grammar and spelling.

•  The budget must cover all areas of the project and should be clear.

•  The timeline should be accurate and well prepared.

The postmark deadline for receipt of the grant request is May 15. The notification of the Key Club International Board’s decisions will be mailed no later than August 15.