December and November Disaster Grant Winners!

Do Something and the Dunkin' Brands Community Foundation have teamed up to offer $500 Disaster Grants to young people across the US and Canada. Are you building houses down in New Orleans, planning an emergency coat drive for families in crisis this winter, or collecting toys for kids who’ve been through a natural disaster? Then we want to hear from you!

Each week in 2009 we gave out $500 to an awesome person with a project idea around the themes of disaster preparedness and emergency response. Read about our amazing winners so far.

These grants are now completed, but check out our other grant opportunities and apply today!

Adam Davis, 18

Health Pandemic Prevention
To raise awareness of the importance of a potential disease pandemic especially during flu season, Adam is organizing a public health week at his high school. In the small town in Indiana where Adam lives, there is not a lot of easy access to basic healthcare information and education. This student-led education forum will help students engage in pandemic prevention through mock disaster triage, a blood pressure screening, and a food drive.

Keila Kirkpatrick, 23

The Germ Killers
Keila initiated a program to create the Germ Killers team of high school aged youth that will teach younger children (ages 5-11) about the importance of staying healthy, reducing the spread of germs, and health-safety tips. Keila has a background in health care and in her current job of working with children will help her guide the Germ Killers to success in their area. The goal is to increase awareness of the dangers of spreading germs and diseases, lower the amount of sick days for students in Frederick County Public Schools by at least 25%, and use this information to educate parents, siblings, and friends. Trained youth volunteers will distribute health care kits to kids which will include hand sanitizer, antibacterial wipes/soap, and a book on health care & fighting germs.

Brendan Lowe, 24

Urban Poverty: Volunteer Trip to New Orleans
Brendan is leading students from his school at Mott Haven Village Preparatory High School in the Bronx, NY on a volunteer project in New Orleans. There the students will participate in post-Katrina reconstruction efforts. However, Brendan knows that his students will have a unique experience there as many of his students have grown up in similar socio-economic circumstances as many residents in the Lower Ninth Ward. Leading up to the trip the students who apply will take classes on urban poverty and policy as seen through the case studies of the Bronx and New Orleans. Through these required classes, students will develop an historical and contemporary understanding of New Orleans that will allow them to contextualize their experiences while on location.

Jessica van Ness, 22

HODR: Project Sungai Geringging Salvage Kits
On 30th of September and 1st of October, 2009 Western Sumatra, Indonesia was rocked by two severe earthquakes, which left more than 200,000 homes damaged, many of which are still uninhabitable even three months later. Many families struggle to build temporary shelters, as the economic barriers are so great that they would be unable to rebuild without outside help. Through Jessica’s experience as a Salvage Team Leader Jessica developed a program to implement a kit of tools to help families to rebuild and work most effectively with volunteer teams. By creating salvage kits, Jessica and her group can help more families begin the recovery process, help them to save more resources, and help the local economy as many of the materials are purchased in the local area. Jessica will use her grant money to purchase additional materials for salvage kits to help an additional fifty families in the Sungai-Geringging area.

Greg Healy, 17

Saving Lives Through Water Pasteurization
Every day in third world countries approximately 6000 children under the age of five die from water borne illnesses, and worldwide, about 1.3 billion people do not have access to safe drinking water. These situations are more critical after natural disasters when normal means for obtaining water are disrupted. Greg and his classmates will hold an awareness day about water insecurity and then construct several WAPI's which are easy methods of water purification. These will then be sent to victims of the typhoon in the Philippines and Samoa.

Chandler Helms, 15

Scarves for Soldiers
To help the troops who are serving overseas Chandler and her friends are knitting scarves for them. In addition to sending scarves to the troops they are also selling their scarves in a local boutique. All of the money from these sales goes towards purchasing supplies for Care Packages for soldiers as well, which the hand-made scarves are a part of. Chandler will use her money to purchase more yarn and knitting supplies.

Jennifer Sproul, 23

The Backpack Program
Jennifer and the Campus Kitchen at Washington & Lee University are teaming up to address food insecurity needs in their area. As winter approaches the need for food increases in their area and so the Backpack Program will provide food for children who are receive free-lunches through their school. By combining food donations at the Campus Kitchen food collection site, and with community outreach Jennifer and her group will be able to provide food each weekend for youth in need. Jennifer will use her grant money to purchase extra goodies for the backpacks, as well as extra food supplies if donations are low.