Elijah, a student at Carver, checks out the new library with Baylor senior Joe Julian
Baylor senior Joe Julian, a leader in the school’s community service program, has received a Youth Microgrant from the Karma For Cara Foundation and is using it to renovate the library at the Carver Community Center, where Baylor students tutor Chattanooga schoolchildren every afternoon. Carver is one of 18 Youth and Family Development Centers in the Chattanooga area.
“I just wanted to help make reading appealing to the kids at Carver and increase their interest in reading,” says Joe, a R.E.S.P.E.C.T. Board (the student leadership of Baylor’s community service program) member and a leader of the reading program. “I applied at K4C, and won an $800 grant to supplement what the Baylor program will give me.”
With the grant money, Joe has been able to provide new furniture, new shelves, and paint the library room at Carver. New and used books were collected through donations.
“We still have to let the paint smell die down,” Joe smiles, “but a few kids have been in to see the space. One boy told me he plans to be in there every day!” Thanks to Joe, Baylor’s community service program, and Karma For Cara, he – and many others – can be.
Karma for Cara Foundation is a non-profit founded in 2012 by the late Cara Becker and her family while she, at 21 years old, was being treated for leukemia at Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center. Cara, a community service volunteer herself, decided on these three objectives for K4C:
To promote and support youth engagement and service to others in communities throughout the US.
To work to reduce the suffering of cancer patients and their families.
To recognize and reward individuals and organizations that are having an impact in service to others due to their passion, energy and smarts.
The foundation’s Youth Microgrant Program encourages kids, 18 and under, to apply for funds between 250 and $1,000 to complete service projects in their communities.