New Orleans Neighborhoods Partnership Network

November 3rd 2008

Operation REACH, Inc. Seeks to Fund Local Youth Groups

Operation REACH, Inc. Seeks to Fund Local Youth Groups

Operation REACH, Inc. is pleased to announce the fall 2008 funding round for the Gulfsouth Youth Action Fund. The Gulfsouth Youth Action Fund is now accepting letters of intent and proposals from local youth-led, youth-driven organizations working to create vibrant communities for youth to live, learn, lead, thrive and grow.

The Gulfsouth Youth Action Fund is a youth philanthropy initiative, founded by Operation REACH in 2007. Thirty middle and high school students from different cultural, religious, racial and socio-economic backgrounds serve on the Gulfsouth Youth Action Fund’s Youth Advisory Board. This group processes and awards grants to youth-serving/youth-led organizations engaged in Gulf Coast recovery and other youth-related issues throughout the Greater New Orleans region.

Grant awards range from $500 to $5,000. In its first year, the Gulfsouth Youth Action Fund made more than $10,000 in grant awards to four youth organizations.

The Gulfsouth Youth Action Fund (GYAF) engages youth as leaders and empowers them with the resources to make strategic investments in their peers and communities. The GYAF is a program of Operation REACH, Inc., a local community education organization that engages, empowers, and inspires children youth and families through informal learning. Operation REACH runs the Gulfsouth Youth Action Fund in partnership with the Greater New Orleans Foundation (GNOF) and supported by the Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation, the Foundation for the Mid South, Rebuilding Our Community, Inc., United Way of Greater New Orleans, the Metropolitan Human Services District, FedEx Corp., State Farm Insurance Companies, and Interfaith Works.

Organizations interested in applying for funding for a youth-driven initiative can find the complete Request for Proposals at http://www.thegyac.org. Potential applicants are encouraged to submit a letter of intent by November 14, 2008. Complete proposals are due by December 5, 2008. The first award disbursements will be made in January 2009.

For more information on the Gulfsouth Youth Action Fund, visit http://www.thegyac.org. For questions, please contact Program Coordinator, Tony Wilson, or (504) 529-1922.