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About:
* Stand Up Kids! is a FREE day-camp for children ages 6-13. It is divided into two age-groups in order to give each child instruction that is appropriate for their age level.
* Stand Up Kids! was founded and is directed by Elizabeth (Beth) Bloom, a 17 year old teenager in New Albany, IN. It has been in operation since 2006.

The Mission of Stand Up Kids!:

* To provide a fun environment for kids to learn how to conquer their fear of public speaking.
* To train children to be winsome and interesting speakers.
* To invest in the Southern Indiana community.
* To teach children how to articulate their personal convictions in an intelligent manner.

The Stand Up Kids! staff saw great improvement in students in the areas of self-confidence, gesturing, eye contact, poise and respect for a audience. We consider it a great privilege to teach speaking skills to our community's children.

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Eight high school students and 4 college freshman are traveling to Nicaragua this summer to run a music camp for the children of a poor village called San Jose de Cusmapa. We'll be working with about 150 children ages 7 - 18. In addition to teaching workshops in flute, piano, guitar, voice, theory, drums, bass, violin, and saxophone, we will also bring donated music supplies and workbooks to create a small "music library" at the village school.

Students in the isolated village of Cusmapa can't just go to a music store to buy supplies, (even if there was a store, they wouldn't have the means to buy much), so these resources will be very helpful to the school's small program. The music program has been a HUGE benefit to this community by giving students an incentive to work hard in school and the opportunity to earn scholarships to college through their musical talents, an opportunity previously all but unattainable for students in this poor village. Higher education not only opens doors for the individual student, but for the town they return to serve.

The village San Jose de Cusmapa is one of the poorest villages in the Nicaraguan state of Madriz, which is one of the poorest departments in Nicaragua as a whole. Nicaragua has the 3rd lowest per capita income in the Western Hemisphere ($3,100, fourteen times smaller than that of the U.S.) and one of the most unequal distributions of income in the world. Through our team's fundraising efforts, we hope to education Americans about Nicaraguan culture, the country's current impoverishment, and what can be done to help.

Want to learn more? Check out the website of the Fabretto Foundation, the organization we'll be working with in Nicaragua: www.fabretto.org. For more info about our project, visit our website: http://cusmapamusic.googlepages.com

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This is a camp for youth ages 6-18 who have lost a loved one due to death. What better way to get through this journey then with someone else who has been there, done that? We have 3 1-week sessions, Mon-Fri from 9-3 and will have food, fun, activities with a purpose. Volunteers can help with practical things like arts and crafts, serving lunch or just plain old listening. Training required and provided free of charge. This is a free camp, so no one is making any money- they're just going to feel real good at the end knowing that they made a difference in someone's life at a very crucial time.

Just want to encourage the grieving child that they are not alone, the feelings they are experiencing are normal and that they don't have to turn to drugs, alcohol to kill the pain that they are feeling. If you have a heart for this, like working in a camp setting, and love kids- give us a call for training info.

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I spent the last four summers organizing, directing and running Camp Rainbow for underprivileged youth. It is non-profit and entirely staffed by volunteers. Last year, I took a directing role, as well as counselor to a unit. Although it was my job to teach and mentor the campers, much of the time I felt that they were the ones teaching me. Most of them came from poor families and had seen more than their share of trouble in their lives. I taught them crafts and outdoor skills, and in turn they taught me courage, patience and wisdom. I was consistently challenged and consistently rewarded. Throughout the year, I get calls from the campers when they have problems or just want to talk. I like to think that I am a positive role model in their lives and I know I am making a difference.

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My name is Bradford Hall and I am a part-time Student Clerk at Sallye B. Mathis Elementary School in Jacksonville, Florida. The school is an inner-city school, where over 90 percent of the students are considered "economically disadvantaged."

As a result, the Principal (Gwen Crutchfield) and I sat down to have a conversation about how do we involve the community's children in enrichment programs that will enhance their educational skills and abilities. We wanted to design a camp called "Camp Excellence." However, we realized that we did not have any money and with the state of Florida cutting our educational system's budget, money is scarce.

Our goal is to provide students with academic assistance and Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) preparation. We also want to provide our students with computer training, public speaking training, creative writing training, etc. Most importantly, we will take high school Juniors and Seniors and allow them to serve as Camp Counselors and role models to the students we serve.

The faculty and staff and students have strived hard to reach the level of success in which we have. Just five years ago, Sallye B. Mathis was given an "F" grade by the Florida Department of Education. Now, it amazes me to say, we are a "B" school, reaching for an "A."

As a high school student, I have committed my time to mentoring and tutoring students. My very first assignment at Sallye B. Mathis was to mentor a student who had failed the fifth-grade two times. He barely came to school, his grades were very low. But, because I was able to reach him, he made the choice that he had to do better. That's why he received the Principal's Student of the Year Award and maintained the A/B Honor Roll. The best thing about Sallye B. Mathis is seeing the smiles on the kids' faces once you've done something special for them.

To our students, special is for someone to take 30 minutes out of their busy schedule and come and read to them. Special to our students is to have someone who they can talk to when they're in trouble in school. Just to pat a student on the back for doing their homework makes them feel proud. It makes me feel proud to. This is why I choose to work for and serve Sallye B. Mathis Elementary School.

I want this camp to be annual and I want it to be something that our students will never forget. I know that $500 is only a small portion of what it will take to start this camp. But, it is a start.

At Sallye B. Mathis, we believe in our students today because they are the hope for tomorrow.

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Pineview Home School in Evart, Michigan is a school for court placed boys. Some of the boys that attend this school were abused, while others have committed some type of a felony. The boys live in homes together on the campus of the school and spend the majority of their time at the school. They are allowed to participate in athletics and compete against mostly small private schools from the area. They field a soccer team and a basketball team. One of the things that I enjoyed doing most growing up was attending camps in the summer. Whether it was a week long camp with my friends from church or a day camp for different sports those weeks were some of the most enjoyable in my life. My greatest memories though, were going to basketball camps. I could not attend enough of them. The sense of belonging and responsibility that I felt while I was there is something that will stick with me the rest of my life. One of the greatest things I have gleaned from those camps, and athletics in general however,is a respect for the way they can build strength of character. I am trying to begin a basketball camp at Pineview Home Schools the week of July 3-7 where I will attempt to help the boys at the school learn the same lessons from sports that I have. The basketball camp will be free for the boys, and while I am not looking to profit from this venture, I do want to be able to give the boys the same things that kids at other camps would get, and if possible more for example shorts or basketballs. At most camps all of the attendees receive shirts at the end of the week that were covered in their registration fee and for some children the shirt was half the reason that they attended the camp. I also wanted to be able to give the boys trophies for embodying different character building traits I am trying to implement with the camp. Some of these traits are: Leadership - I plan on talking to the oldest boys who will be the captains of different teams everyday in an attempt to help them become better leaders to the younger boys. Responsibility - I will stress the importance of understanding that being responsible affects more people than just yourself. If the boys act responsibly (i.e. trying their hardest, being encouraging, not fooling around) they will not only be growing as people but they will be helping their team. Humility - I believe that humility in victory is far more commendable than humility in defeat and I will attempt to help the boys understand this. Teamwork - I believe that this combines all of the ideas discussed above. For there to be a good team each person must understand their responsiblity, the leaders on the team must step up and help along the other players, and the other players must be humble enough to accept the urgings of the leaders. Each day I am going to spend between ten and fifteen minutes talking about a different subject. The subjects are teamwork, accountability, respect, attitude, and hard work. I am going to implement different rules each day at the camp to help establish these values. An example of this is after the talk about attitude during all of the games that day if someone says something negative to another player his team will be docked one point. A large focus of the camp will be encouragement and building self-esteem because this is something that many of the boys struggle with because of their varied histories. While this is a basketball camp and I am going to help the boys improve their basketball skills I believe that far more important and harder to learn lessons can be conveyed in an easier to accept setting for these boys. I will try to combine learning the 'Jab-Step Series' with how to be humble after beating an opponent to the basket. I hope that I will be able to help the boys grow as individuals as well as athletes during this week and I appreciate your taking the time to consider helping me begin this camp. In the future I hope that it will turn into an annual venture, and possibly expand to other locations such as the Detroit metro area.

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I would like to start a monthly day camp type event where kids can sign up to come and cook real recipes that are healthy and taste good. I want it be something affordable for the kids in my community, where low-income families are buying cheap junk food instead of making healthy choices at home. My church has a commercial-style kitchen and many talented cooks that I hope will volunteer their time to help tweens and teens make healthier choices, and give them the skills to make those choices. I love to cook and I think kids like me would like to learn to make good-for-you and good-tasting snacks and meals.

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The camp is for the local boys who are interested in learning and playing basketball. I am a Basketball coach and have noticed that the kids no longer are outside playing on the courts. This I want to bring back to my small town, because I remember being a young student and my parents would have to drag me inside at night. The camp ideal is to allow the kids to play five on five basketball. They will also have contest. Each camper who places 1st, 2nd or 3rd will be awarded trophies. The kids also get camp tee-shirts as well as a big pizza party on the last day of camp. However due to high cost of basketballs, tee shirts and so forth the camp might be too expensive for some students. I am asking for this grant so that even the students who cant afford the camp could come.

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The Town of Fountain Hills Parks Department is looking for a few GREAT Teens! The Sunsational Summer Camp and Musical Beginnings needs some help this summer with games, crafts and activity! Teens are asked to volunteer to assist the camp staff in setting up, making crafts, running kids activity, singing songs, playing games and cleaning up. If you are teen over the age of twelve and love kids, this is a great opportunity to acquire great skills and earn community service hours. *Requirements: must be at least 12 years old, be able to lift 30lbs, love kids and work the entire shifts (preferably a week at a time) Here is the 2008 schedule: Sunsation Summer Camps: June 2-6 June 30 - July 4 June 9-13 July 7-11 Volunteer Hours Needed: 8am– 12 noon Musical Beginnings: June 16 - 20 July 14-18 June 23 - 27 July 21- 25 Volunteer Hours Needed: 9am– 11:30 am Call Kathy at [personal content edited out by admin] for more information!

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The Volunteer Center of Greensboro is looking for Guilford County high school students to attend our weeklong Service Learning- Impacting Citizenship Camp (SLICC). SLICC is a hands-on approach to uniting youth across different social groups through a weeklong service experience that will empower them to change their generation, learn about their government, and impact their community. Each morning of SLICC will be filled with challenging group activities, enlightening speakers, and team building exercises. After lunch, the groups will travel to local nonprofit agencies to complete service projects and to learn the inner-workings of these agencies!

Dates: Monday, August 6th – Friday, August 10th .

Time: Monday – Friday, 8:30am – 5:00pm. Morning drop-off is available beginning at 8:00am.

Benefits: Students will earn at least 30 hours of community service, have fun while learning about in depth issues related to youth, and have an immediate impact through hands-on volunteering in our community. Students will make friends, learn team-building skills, increase their awareness of diversity, and learn how to use youth power to improve Guilford County!

Cost: Totally Free!!! There are no costs to participate. All food, learning, and service materials will be provided by the Volunteer Center.

Transportation: Students need to have their own transportation to and from the Camp’s Downtown Base location. Bus transportation will be provided to and from service agencies.

Recruitment: High school students may contact the Volunteer Center of Greensboro directly for more information. Students will need to demonstrate leadership, a desire to serve in their community, and an interest in citizenship engagement.

For further details:
Amanda Rogers, Program Director
(336) 373-1633