These Service Sparks guides provide directions for generous actions that encourage youth voice and promote the common good. Each project includes step-by-step instructions.
Ignite meaningful action that lights up the world through "Service Sparks" youth projects! Respond to a traumatic event or loss by sending words of encouragement and empathy to victims or survivors to let them know you care and they are not alone.
A Simple Safe Service project from home: Winter weather can make being outdoors uncomfortable and even dangerous, so having the right clothing can boost our mental and physical health and even save lives. Not everyone has warm socks, jackets that fit, waterproof boots, and thick mittens. Find out if there is a need in your community and use your voice to collect and donate winter clothing.
This resource was developed in collaboration with the Council of Michigan Foundations (CMF) Youth Philanthropy Task Force powered by Michigan youth, CMF members, and nonprofit leaders. For links to all the resources,...
In this book, Peter Reynolds writes a fable about what happens to one family’s table when life’s distractions get in the way of their time together. Violet remembers when her family gathered at the table to share stories and make memories. When the table disappears, Violet decides to act and...
A Simple Safe Service project from home: Give food as a gift to express care and love or donate food to community members and local nonprofits. Food has always been a gift we give from our hearts. When we visit family, friends, or community members, we often bring gifts of food, which is an expression of our time and talent - a one-of-a-kind gift. Whether we bring cookies to an elderly neighbor or donate canned goods to a shelter, food is a fundamental need and the first thing we think of in a crisis.
This book by poet and activist Amanda Gorman sings with optimism for our personal power to make a difference for a better world. It is a celebration of change through grace and vision. In this "children's anthem," Gorman inspires us to act with our personal gifts while collectively being the best we can be. With images of famous people and musical instruments, the artist illustrates the beauty of individuals of diverse backgrounds coming together as one in community. Amanda Gorman is an African American youth poet laureate, born with a speech impediment and sensitivity to sound, who is now speaking eloquently with hope that we can all take action for a better world.
Through beautiful images and text, we walk alongside a mother with her infant son coming to America from Mexico. We gain a sense of the hope, uncertainty, and confusion of a Latinx immigrant coming to the U.S. with its unfamiliar words and places. This is the author's true story of coming to...
Sherman Alexie is a well known author for teens and adults. He wrote this, his first picture book, in part because there isn't enough representation of indigenous people in picture books. In his loving family, Thunder Boy, Jr. struggles to find his own place and name. He loves his dad, but...
Nibi, whose name means water, does not have clean water at her house for drinking and bathing. Through her persistence and sense of fairness, she is able to gather a group of people who join her voice and work to get clean water for her house. This is a story about small positive actions...