A Volunteer Maine grant program aims to help recreation, camps, library, and youth conservation programs guide young people through a service project.

“Service is not just a habit to develop when you are young. It is also a set of skills like figuring out what action to take to change something and how to organize a project so it succeeds,” said Kelsey Preecs, program officer for volunteer initiatives at Volunteer Maine, in a news release from her Augusta office. “Summer youth programs are an excellent place for young people to work together on a project that they can complete in a brief time and see results without interference of weather or scheduling.”

The program will award up to $2,000 for youth summer service projects. Applications are due Friday, June 23.

Awards will be made the following week so young people can start organizing as early as July 10. Projects must be completed on or before Aug. 27.

The grants prefer that service projects are “youth-led,” meaning the participants are younger than 18 and take the lead in identifying the issue to tackle, researching solutions, designing the service project, and carrying it out. Adult advisors provide support on all aspects, teaching young people where to find information, how to assess what will work, and how to organize the actual service work.

Information on the grant program and application instructions can be found at volunteermaine.gov.

For more information about the program, email kelsey.preecs@maine.gov.

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