HYC Scholarship Fund Has Amazing Impact!

Thanks to the gifts of many generous donors, we have been able to expand our scholarship fund in unprecedented ways in 2018. These donations enabled us to meet a matching gift challenge from another donor, which resulted in receiving an additional $50,000 to help grow our fund last year more than ever before.

In 2018, we have been able to award more than 100 scholarships to students, including 27 substantial scholarships to participants from Kenya, Bolivia, Latvia, Malaysia and the Philippines.The average award this year has been $600. This represents a significant increase from the first year of our scholarship fund in 2017 when we awarded 30 scholarships, with the largest award at $500. We still have several trips planned for December, so we anticipate the number of scholarships awarded to continue to grow through the rest of the year.

We strive to keep our program expenses low to offer the lowest costs to volunteers (our programs average $1,100 for the two-week Corps). However, even with these efforts, the cost can be significantly burdensome for our youth volunteers who are eager to serve. The expansion of the scholarship fund has enabled us to offer more generous awards to deserving participants to help alleviate some of this burden. Thank you!

We mobilize people. Whether walking through the granite halls of the United Nations or the poorest corners of the world, the compliments we hear are universal, “you have the best volunteers”. HOPE worldwide is known for having volunteers who serve and give with unmatched love and compassion. We are known for training and deploying reliable volunteers who show up, care deeply about people, and serve with purpose. Knowing who we are, with volunteers at the core of our success, we are dreaming big and forging a new vision. Our organization’s bold vision is to mobilize one million volunteers around the world, to bring hope to those in need.

In 2018, more than 700 volunteers are serving at 27 different sites in 14 countries through the HOPE worldwide Volunteer Corps and HOPE Youth Corps programs.

Here are some examples of the service activities that took place around the world this summer:

Alaska : mentored local children at the Gateway to the Arctic Camp and helped with the camp’s sustainable agriculture program
Bolivia: worked with established HOPE worldwide programs to provide services to children and family in La Paz and Rurrenabaque
Philadelphia : conducted a camp for children from North Philadelphia and assisted with cleaning and repairs at the One Day At A Time drug/alcohol program
Romania: helped clean and repair two orphanages, as well as served the children in the orphanage. Of interesting note, several participants who chose to serve in this program were adopted from Romania by American families
Haiti: worked with an orphanage in Les Cayes and conducted disaster rehabilitation following Hurricane Matthew
India: taught at the HOPE foundation’s school, drew murals, created a basketball court and volunteered at training centers for underprivileged youth
Chicago: mentored youth and rehabilitated community gardens
Mexico: worked with a day care center for at-risk children and assisted with a construction project for the center
Kenya : volunteers served at a pediatric hospital in Nairobi and then helped at a school in the small town of Embu
Zambia 1 : an international team of skilled educators from Australia, the UK and the US, worked at local schools, teaching and training teachers.
Zambia 2 : skilled volunteers worked on a sustainable aquaponics farm, as well as helped develop business practices and marketing for the farm.
Hawaii : mentored at-risk youth at a homeless shelter, assisted in building a home with Habitat for Humanity, restored habitats for endangered plant/animal species, volunteered at a nursing home
Seattle : conducted homeless outreach and assisted with building a “tiny home” to be donated to the homeless encampment

The Personal Impact: In their own words, here is how your gift has touched the lives of our volunteers:

“I went on the HVC Bolivia trip and part of me never came back. After explaining the effects of the trip hundreds of times, there’s nothing more I can say except that I will never forget it and that it has changed my life in ways I never imagined. However, I never would have attended this trip if it wasn’t for the help of the HYC Scholarship Fund. As a poor college student, I live in one of the most expensive areas in the country – Boulder, CO (otherwise known as the “new Silicon Valley”). The busyness of school, work, helping my campus ministry (among other things) leaves me with little resources that the Scholarship Fund was able to provid e. HOPE worldwide changes lives. Not only do we change the lives of those we serve, but our own hearts are transformed and renewed – that is priceless.” - Reece Moellenhoff, Boulder, Colorado (served in Bolivia)

“First of all, the scholarship I’ve received helped me to be able to be part of the HVC. My mother who is a widow would have not been able to help me with these expenses. I am truly grateful for this opportunity.

This experience taught me how to serve with all my heart, which for me that means: Love without boundaries. Therefore, serving in my own country helped my eyes to be open to the reality that so many people are going through. It’s easy to think that serving means going somewhere else, but I’ve learned that serving in my city has a powerful value because I can continue in La Paz what I started two weeks ago.

Thanks to the HOPEww team and people involved in creating this opportunity for many young people. The job you are doing sows seeds in the hearts of the participants.” - Maria de la Paz Cardozo Sequeiros, La Paz, Bolivia (served locally in Bolivia)

“I received a $500 scholarship from for my trip to Tijuana, Mexico this year. Words cannot express how thankful I am for this amazing experience and because of my financial situation, it wouldn’t have been possible without this scholarship. $500 is a lot of money and to be given it so readily was really inspiring for me to be even more giving on this trip because of the sacrifice made by someone else for me to go on this trip. I am so grateful again for this scholarship because I know that not only me, but lots of other people, were able to make a lasting impact in lots of places around the world because of these scholarships this year alone.” – Alex Montgomery, Chicago, Illinois (served in Mexico)

“I received a $700 scholarship to go on this HVC. Without it there’s absolutely no way my single mum paying a huge mortgage independently would have been able to pay for the trip. The rest of the money was raised through my personal fundraising. Without [the scholarship], I wouldn’t be here in India having the life changing and surreal experience I’m having as we speak. Thank you!” – Eden Odeniyi, London, UK (served in India)

“The HOPE worldwide Volunteer Corps in has forever changed the way I see the people around me. Serving children who are so blatantly in pain has helped me understand the needs of my community. In America, everyone hides behind their positions, but they all yearn for someone to truly care for them, to take interest in their lives. This lesson that I have learned is so important, but without the HOPE worldwide scholarship fund, I may not have learned it. – Ashley Sturgeon, Philadelphia, PA (served in Bolivia)

“Having been a beneficiary of the HOPE worldwide Volunteer Corps, I have been able to learn and be in touch with the community more, be adaptable to situations when need arises also being able to learn from different people mostly the participants who have come to serve. This has been such a fulfilling two week of fun filled service! I'm so ready to serve even after the Volunteer Corps! Can I sign up for next year?”- Keah Kingsley, Nairobi, Kenya (served locally in Kenya)

“I would love to say thank you again for the scholarship to HVC Romania. It can be so easy to let finances be a barrier to keep me from going on these trips, but having the scholarship really helped more than you know. With every trip I go on I learn something new about myself and how to make a difference in this world. The privilege of receiving a scholarship does not only help with the cost of being able to attend a HYC/HVC, it provides a way for teens and campus students, like myself, to have an impact on those we serve while also being impacted ourselves. The impact lasts beyond the trips, I feel called not only to go on more but also to take what I’ve learned and make a difference in my own community. Without the scholarship and opportunity to go on a HYC/HVC, my life and heart would not have been changed in such a way that only these trips can provide.” – Amy Funabashi, Los Angeles, CA (served in Romania)

We believe that we are just beginning to scratch the surface of what can be done through motivating our youth in service around the world. We are particularly excited about the engagement of local volunteers in developing countries serving alongside groups of international volunteers and would love to expand this program in 2019. This opportunity allows local students to continue the sustainable service they take part in while on the HOPE worldwide Volunteer Corps, as well as helping create bonds across cultures that might not otherwise be able to happen without this investment. We want to be able to continue to provide support to deserving students both in and outside the U.S., as we know that many students within the U.S. are also challenged by difficult financial situations and do not believe they can serve in this capacity.

In 2017, we were blessed by a kind offer of a $50,000 matching gift and your generous donation helped us meet this challenge and double the impact of your gift. Thank you! We would be honored to have you join us again this year in our campaign to provide even more scholarships to worthy students. We are humbled to have your support and thank you for considering this request !