In partnership with The Hershey Company and Hershey’s Heartwarming Project, YSA will award Hershey Heartwarming Young Heroes GYSD Grants for Youth Service Month & Global Youth Service Day 2025 projects. Youth changemakers - aged 5 to 25 - in the U.S. and Canada are eligible to apply for these grants to lead and engage their peers in awareness, service, advocacy, and philanthropy projects that build more inclusive, empathetic, and kind communities.
Youth may apply for grants of either $250 or $500 depending on the number of youth who will be participating as volunteers (project planners, project leaders, and day-of volunteers). $250 grantees will be required to engage at least 25 other youth as volunteers while $500 grantees have a 50 youth volunteer minimum requirement. A total of $50,000 in grants will be awarded.
Projects may address any issue or community need that is important to the youth project leaders and their peers. All proposed projects should engage a diverse group of youth volunteers from different social backgrounds and provide opportunities for those youth volunteers to create meaningful connections with their peers, caring adults, and community partners, while developing social awareness and relationship skills.
What are we looking for?
- Proposed projects must be youth-designed and youth-led;
- Projects must take place during Youth Service Month (April 11-May 11, 2025), with some activity on Global Youth Service Day (April 25-27, 2025) strongly encouraged;
- Projects must take place in and impact the community where the youth applicant lives;
- Youth applicants must engage youth from different social backgrounds as volunteers as well as first-time volunteers;
- Youth applicants must engage their peers as volunteers throughout all facets of their proposed project—from planning and implementation to celebration and recognition.
All youth ages 5-25 in the United States (including U.S. territories and military bases & DoD schools) and Canada are eligible to apply
