COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

YES Grants

Help provide opportunities for young people to invest in their communities

4‑H provides opportunities for youth to take the lead in making their own communities a better place for all. The YES Grant is intended to give youth-led projects the financial boost they need to get off the ground and start making a difference.

Funds for this initiative were made available from the Nola Gentry Charitable Trust and Corteva Agriscience.

2024 YES Grant Recipients

In 2024, the Indiana 4‑H Foundation awarded 23 YES Grants for a total of $21,606.30! The following 4‑H members received funding based on grant proposals they submitted to the Indiana 4‑H Foundation:

Laci Schilmiller, Floyd County
Grant Award: $615
Name of Project: Raise 4‑H Awareness

“Painting a mural on the side of our county 4‑H hall building will raise awareness of 4‑H in our community. We will paint with the help from our school system art teacher, Mrs. Mary Arnold.  She is guiding us on what type of paint to use and how to apply it properly so that it will last for decades. The side of the building faces the oncoming traffic of a main road, and everyone will see it every day.”


Gabi Boerner, Posey County
Grant Award: $1,000
Name of Project: Fashion Forward

“I would take six elementary school students in need of back-to-school clothes shopping with this grant. Every student would have a $150-200 budget so that they could get about a week’s worth of new school clothes, a jacket, socks, underwear, and a new pair of gym shoes. My mother, some peers, and I would take the students shopping to ensure that the students get clothes that fit and match their style.”


Anna Fritch, Morgan County
Grant Award: $1,000
Name of Project: Fire Safety

“Nearly 4,000 Americans die each year in house fires, and over 2,000 are severely injured. Our project is going to decrease this risk for residents of Morgan County. With the help of this grant, the 4‑H Junior Leaders are proposing to buy smoke detectors to increase this county’s safety from home fires. The bulk of the grant is for purchasing smoke detectors to give away at our county fair. We plan to buy them at $8 a piece at Walmart. We will be distributing them with the help of the Morgan County Farm Bureau, who is the sponsor of the day for the county fair on July 6th. We will spend 3-4 hours at the sponsor of the day gazebo where we will have a display and hand out smoke detectors to the public. We may also hand them out at the 4‑H Junior Leaders food stand. By doing this we will be helping to protect lives in our community.”


Lilyan Kreischer, DeKalb County
Grant Award: $1,000
Name of Project: DeKalb County 4‑H Junior Leaders

“With this YES Grant, our club will gift bookbags and school supplies to impoverished students within the DeKalb County Community. Each bookbag will include two folders, a notebook, pencils, pens, highlighters, glue sticks, colored pencils, crayons, scissors, and pink erasers. Every bookbag will include a flier explaining what 4‑H is and its impact on our community. This flier will encourage these families to get their students involved in 4‑H. We will find students who need a bookbag in several ways. We will gather the names of individuals in need from local churches. We will also send advertisements to the local schools to post on their social media so families in need can contact us if they need a bookbag for their students. Members will be responsible for buying supplies, packaging bookbags, and dropping them off to families in need. This project will benefit children in grades K-12 who cannot afford bookbags and school supplies necessary for their education.”


Payton Dalton, Lawrence County
Grant Award: $1,000
Name of Project: Lawrence County 4‑H Horse and Pony Club

“Our project would be a service project to our community. We would like to coordinate with our local Cancer Treatment facility to come up with a care type bag filled with usable items for their current cancer patients. We would like to start with a goal of 20 care bags and hope that we possibly might be able to do more. However, more than these 20 patients will be affected. We will be working with their nurses, office staff and families to make our bags patient specific. So those having any part in this process will also be helping in our project. Our goals for the community would be to recognize that the members of our club take pride in 4‑H and the values that it supports.”


Liza Browning, Johnson County
Grant Award: $1,000
Name of Project: Help 4 Hygiene

“This project is going to consist of hygiene packs for four different community outreaches. These non-profit organizations are as follows: Johnson County Senior Services (services given to the elderly in our community), Clarity Pregnancy Services (helping new mothers in our community), Tara Treatment Center (organization dedicated to the rehabilitation of people addicted to drugs and/or alcohol) and Franklin Ivy Tech Food Bank (organization that provides food for college students). Our goal is to create approximately 80 hygiene bags and send 20 of them to each of the four organizations. Extra items will be donated or made into additional bags. The 4‑H members of the club will be putting the bags together and writing encouraging letters to put in each bag.”


Sebastian Rzadkosz, Lake County
Grant Award: $503
Name of Project: Garden Beds for Seniors

“Our project aims to give seniors an opportunity to be outdoors and grow fresh food. Our project would provide a garden bed for the seniors at the nursing home. With a garden bed, they can grow fresh vegetables to eat, be outside, and have fun. In the future, we can expand to other nursing homes across the county.”


Adelyn Moore, Putnam County
Grant Award: $1,000
Name of Project: Putnam 4‑H Junior Leaders/Putnam Giving Tree Partnership

“The Giving Tree is a heartwarming program that has been a beacon of hope for families in Putnam County during the holiday season. Our mission is to help this organization ensure that every child in our community, from birth through high school graduation, experiences the joy of Christmas. We work to use Junior Leader funds to partner with this organization and have historically contributed about $250. There are rarely enough funds to provide for all of the needs. One of the unique aspects of The Giving Tree is our focus on providing gifts that go beyond the traditional toys and games. We recognize that many families in our community have practical needs that can be difficult to meet during the holiday season, so we strive to provide a mix of both fun and practical gifts. This might include clothing, shoes, or even household items such as bedding or room decor that can make a real difference in a family’s life. In addition to providing gifts, we also try to supply each family with a food basket or a grocery store gift card. This ensures that families have access to nutritious meals during the holiday season.”


Scout Marsolf, Parke County
Grant Award: $1,000
Name of Project: Learning to speak dog

“Last year the 4‑H club completed a YES grant project that allowed members to make snuffle mats for their own dogs. They also met monthly and made 62 mats that were donated to a local shelter and rescue to bring awareness about the importance of dog behavior and enrichment. To expand upon their project this year, members are looking to complete community service projects where individuals come to an enrichment and behavioral class, listen to a guest speaker, and the members teach them how to make their own mats for their own dogs. 4‑H outreach would include working with the new members at their first club meeting on enrichment and making mats; setting up mini 4‑H where young members would participate in PORTYL and create an enrichment puzzle that uses dog treats and paper towel holders, and finally, offer an option for other counties to come to one or two sessions and participate in PORTYL, learning how dogs learn, and creating their own snuffle mats that they would take home with them.”


Charlie English, Vanderburgh County
Grant Award: $1,000
Name of Project: Backpacks to School

“I plan for the members of the Junior Leader organization to help prepare backpacks for the youth at the Boys and Girls Club of Evansville. The backpacks will be filled in late summer so they are ready for back to school. This will give them a backpack filled with the basic tools they need. I will ask the Junior Leaders, the Armstrong Hi-Lighters 4‑H Club, and the Star 4‑H Club to make encouraging notes for back to school.”


Anna East, Owen County
Grant Award: $1,000
Name of Project: Owen County Pathfinders 4‑H Club

“We would love to offer the independently-living seniors in our community an opportunity to be outside, enjoying natural beauty. We want to connect with them individually through socializing and cards. We recognize that these elderly folks spend much of their time inside away from people. So, we want to give them opportunities to do both, by equipping them with a garden of their own and spending time with them during the process, building relationships with them. After we beautify the residents’ homes, we will leave age-appropriate tools for them to continue with minimal maintenance on their own, and we plan to reconnect with them later on to help with the up-keep of the plants and previously formed relationships. We are hoping to leave these residents with a positive experience both from our visit and the summer-long garden. In these ways, we want to remind them that they are not forgotten, even when they feel lonely.”


Blake Youngclaus, Hancock County
Grant Award: $1,000
Name of Project: School Supply Drive

“I am wanting to host a school supply drive to help gather backpacks and other supplies that students need to be successful in the classroom. Backpacks and supplies would go to all schools in the county.” 

2024 YES Grants by county

2024 YES Grants awarded by county

Travis Barnhart, Marshall County
Grant Award: $1,000
Name of Project: Comfort Care Kits

“The project proposal aims to create Comfort Care Kits consisting of essential personal hygiene and household cleaning items to support individuals experiencing difficult times in the community. The core motivation behind this initiative is to offer support to individuals who may lack access to these fundamental necessities during challenging circumstances. Access to such items is crucial for personal comfort and overall health and well-being, particularly during hardship or illness. By assembling and distributing these Comfort Care Kits, the Marshall County Jr. Leaders hope to make a tangible difference in their community, ensuring everyone has access to essential items required for personal hygiene and household cleanliness. These kits provide practical assistance and foster a sense of care and solidarity within the community, highlighting the importance of lending a helping hand to those in need during difficult times.” 


Jennifer Deutsch, Vanderburgh County
Grant Award: $1,000
Name of Project: “Keep it Green” Story Time

“The 4‑H youth project is going to be coordinated with an educational activity called ‘Keep it Green’ that will be happening at the Vanderburgh County Fair. For the youth project, they plan to have scheduled story time during the event, where they will read a story about different ways to recycle at home that community children can attend from 3-6 p.m. Local vendors will have educational displays and interactive activities for families to participate in different ways to recycle or be more green for the environment. The plan is to read the story “Compost Stew: An A to Z Recipe for the Earth” by Mary McKenna Sidals, which was written to help educate children about the importance of taking care of the environment. The 4‑H youth will also have activities planned to help teach children about composting and other recycling that can be done at home. At the end of the session, the 4‑H youth will give each family a copy of the book to take home, as well as other giveaways, including coloring books, bookmarks, etc.”


Boston Blazers 4‑H Club, Washington County
Grant Award: $1,000
Name of Project: Boston Blazers 4‑H Club

“This will help the youth with snacks and school items. A lot of the youth in Washington County cannot afford food, so their parents come into the food bank. These snacks will be something that the kids do not get very often. The lunch box and school supplies are an added bonus for the youth through this project. We would like to bring a little joy into their lives with these lunch boxes. Taking these lunch boxes to the Food Bank will help our 4‑Hers understand one of the issues facing our low income families and their needs.”


Lilly Armstrong, Hancock County
Grant Award: $1,000
Name of Project: Pockets of Hope

“Pockets of Hope would be a day spent creating useful jackets with sewn-in pockets for women battling breast cancer. Our project is to hopefully bring someone a little bit of comfort during a very difficult time in their life. Women battling breast cancer are often given the option to undergo a mastectomy. This leads to a surgery that causes lots of insecurity and unknowns. Recovering from surgery isn’t easy, and facing those challenges along with a cancer diagnosis can be very difficult. Pockets of hope are zip-up, hooded jackets that have internal pockets hand sewn to the inside to hold drainage tubes for those recovering from surgery. These jackets would go to women that needed them, free of charge, and hopefully bring them a pocket full of hope during their recovery.”


Alyvia Williams, Johnson County
Grant Award: $1,000
Name of Project: Clover Power 4‑H Club, Foster Care Duffle Bags

“For our project, we will be partnering with Foster Love by hand-decorating sweet cases for children in the foster care system. We will buy approximately twenty sweet cases and five teen duffles to decorate and then donate them to Resources of Hope to utilize in the foster care system. Our project will allow these kids to have hand-made, personalized duffle bags to carry their belongings in rather than using a trash bag for their clothes and toys. This will allow them to feel a sense of pride and dignity carrying their belongings with them through a big life change rather than viewing their personal items as an afterthought.”


Addison Jenkins, Parke County
Grant Award: $1,000
Name of Project: Pack the Food Pantry

“This project would support the purchase of food and hygiene items for the three food pantries located in Parke County. Each food pantry allows a specific family to receive food and hygiene items on a weekly basis. There is an increased reliance on the food pantries to supply the daily needs of more families in 2024 when compared to 2023.”


Ava Sanders, Johnson County
Grant Award: $1,000
Name of Project: Birthday Boxes by Hoosier Hotshots

“The club’s service project will be making birthday boxes that will be donated to a local organization who provides resources for foster and kinship families. In the past, our club has donated pajamas through a collection drive to send to Resources of Hope. This year, we want to send birthday boxes that will include birthday cake mix, icing, candles, and party supplies (and possibly a small gift) so that each foster/kinship child can have a special day to celebrate them. Our goal is to use this grant, along with fundraiser money as needed, to purchase items to make 100 birthday boxes to celebrate our county’s 100 year anniversary of 4‑H.”


Tanner Dunk, Tippecanoe County
Grant Award: $1,000
Name of Project: Perry Wildcats Cake Kit Donation

“We will be taking a tour of It’s My Closet, which is a place within our school system that offers no-cost items to students. Something that they do is give out kits for birthday cakes during the month of the student’s birthday. We want to put together kits to be able to donate to It’s My Closet for them to distribute. We will have a club meeting where we will assemble the kits. We also will have a birthday cake and someone to give a demonstration on cake decorating since it is a project at the county fair. We will celebrate everyone’s birthday at this meeting, and we will ask that everyone brings an item such as individually wrapped toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, travel size shampoo and conditioner. After our meeting, the club officers will deliver the cake kits and all donated items to It’s My Closet.”


Ava Budak, Steuben County
Grant Award: $938.30
Name of Project: Birthday Bags

“Steuben County 4‑H Junior Leaders will procure jumbo gift bags, 9″ x 13″ disposable foil pans, cake mix, Sprite, frosting, candles, balloons, and birthday cards to assemble approximately 100 “Birthday in a Bag” packages. These packages intended for celebration will be distributed at the Fremont Youth and Community Outreach Center, a local food pantry, for families with youth who have approaching birthdays.” 


Olivia Dickson, Hancock County
Grant Award: $1,000
Name of Project: Swag Bags – Foster Care

“My project proposal is for foster care SWAG packs. These are bags that are given to children and teens entering foster care. The bags have items that they have not had a chance to pack or bring with them. It includes items like Shampoo, conditioner, body wash, toothbrush, toothpaste, comb or brush, travel Kleenex, Chapstick, washcloth, and lotion. Bags for infants have different supplies like diapers, wipes, pacifiers, bottles or sippy cups, rattle or teether, baby shampoo, wash, lotion, and diaper rash cream. Every child receives a new pair of pajamas, an activity, a book, socks, undergarments, a warm blanket, and a stuffed animal.” 


Evelyn Stallings, Warrick County
Grant Award: $550
Name of Project: Nursing Home Bingo

“My proposal for this project is to buy prizes that we can use to support Bingo games conducted by 4‑H members in Warrick nursing homes. I have been involved in Bingo events in local nursing homes in the past and found them to be fun for the youth participants while also very beneficial for the residents, who get a chance to socialize and interact with young people from their community at these events.”

This program wouldn’t be possible without people like you. If you’re interested in supporting 4‑H initiatives like YES Grants, please donate to the Indiana 4‑H Foundation today!

Corteva Agriscience

This year’s grant awards were made possible by Corteva Agriscience and the Nola Gentry Charitable Trust.

Questions?

Contact us by email at:
in4hfoundationyesgrant
@gmail.com.
Glam and Grit for Foster Teens

YES Grant Funds "Glam and Grit" Project

Reagan Koester of Vanderburgh County led a group of volunteers to provide makeup bags for foster teenagers.  WATCH VIDEO →

Alexa Cecil - Blessing Bags for Chemo Patients

4‑H'er Brings Blessings to Local Cancer Patients

Alexa Cecil of Warrick County led the Blessing Bags for Chemo Patients project made possible by a YES Grant from the Indiana 4‑H Foundation.  READ MORE →

2023 YES Grant Applications by County

2023 YES Grants map

2021 and 2022 YES Grant Applications by County

2021 and 2022 YES Grants maps