2025 Youth Volunteer Summer Service Grant program

Teenagers across Central Louisiana served their communities through a variety of projects and activities this summer on their way to becoming lifelong leaders and volunteers. The teens participated in The Rapides Foundation’s 2025 Youth Volunteer Summer Service Grant program.

Under the program, grants of up to $5,000 were awarded to nonprofits, municipalities and community-based organizations within the Foundation’s nine-parish service area, facilitating volunteer summer service opportunities. Projects included animal rescue, trash pick-up, nursing home visits and food bank distribution.

These grants are part of the Foundation’s Social Environment Initiative, which seeks to support leadership and nonprofit development along with increased community and civic engagement.

In 2016, the Foundation launched the My Civic Life program to provide Central Louisiana youth volunteers with service opportunities and resources, in hopes they will become engaged in their communities and make volunteerism a lifelong habit. The Foundation began providing school districts with funding to offer service clubs for students in grades 7-12. The clubs follow the evidence-based model developed by Youth Volunteer Corps.

In 2023, the Foundation expanded the program by offering Youth Volunteer Summer Service Grants to help organizations fund community-based service opportunities for youth ages 11 to 18 during the summer. Projects also follow the YVC model.

Move Bunkie Forward welcomed 27 youth participants as part of their Youth Volunteer Summer Service Grant and completed six community projects, including revitalizing the garden beds at Tom Roy Community Garden, painting the entrance gate and shade coverings at Sheppard’s Park, hosting bingo at Bayou Vista Nursing Home and Bailey Place Assisted Living, leading line dancing at Bunkie Senior Center and painting the gates and doors at Haas Auditorium.

“When selecting volunteers and students for our Move Bunkie Forward program this summer, we chose volunteer projects that could be scheduled during two one-week summer camps,” said Michelle Reynolds, Move Bunkie Forward director. “After working a two-hour paid shift, teenagers were given the option to participate in community projects. My goal is to create an environment that’s so engaging that they want to stay – additionally, the students select our community projects themselves, which boosts their willingness to see the projects through to completion.”

Organizations receiving Youth Volunteer Summer Service Grants in 2025 are:

• Alexandria Affordable Housing Corporation
• B22 Sports Complex
• Clifton-Choctaw Reservation
• Limitless Christian Academy
• Morning Star Baptist Church
• The Health Enrichment Network – Wellness Center
• Town of Bunkie – Move Bunkie Forward
• Zion Hill Missionary Baptist Church

“We are so grateful for the incredible efforts of the students who volunteered through The Rapides Foundation’s Youth Volunteer Corps,” said Carole Stafford, Food Bank of Central Louisiana volunteer coordinator. “Their dedication not only helps us prepare and package food for distribution to food-insecure households across Central Louisiana but also instills in them a deep sense of civic responsibility. These young volunteers are gaining valuable experience in community service while making a real impact on the lives of families in need.”