News in this issue:

Ft. Wayne Youth Set National Record for Youth Day of Caring.

NATIONAL YOUTH SERVICE DAY MATERIALS are available on-line.

Building leaders will happen through service at the 2005 YP JAM.

SUMMER OF SERVICE: A NEW AMERICAN RITE OF PASSAGE for Middle School Youth.

Fifteen "Learning to Give Schools" will blaze a trail in Indiana.

Youth Set National Record!
This year, over 10,000 K-12th grade youth in Ft. Wayne schools will participate in the Youth Day of Caring, making it the largest Youth Day of Caring event in the nation! Even more amazing is the story of how the event grew from 100 youth participants just two years ago to the current record setting impact on youth volunteerism in a community. "Building relationships with schools and connecting the volunteer work with school curriculum was a key component," according to Jamie Garwood, Project Manager. To find out more about how the Allen County United Way made this happen, contact Jamie at (260) 422-4776 (jamieg@uwacin.org) or contact Brad Hummer, Public Relations Manager, for a media kit.

NATIONAL YOUTH SERVICE DAY MATERIALS
Promotional materials are available now to help with celebrating National Youth Service Day (April 15-17, 2005), the largest service event in the world. These materials are a great way to recognize and thank volunteers, donors, staff, media partners, and other VIP's. Please visit www.YSA.org/nysd to order. On the site, don't forget to register your service project, so that Youth Service America can highlight your event through its national media campaign. Finally, you can download or order materials to help you plan a great project, including the National Youth Service Day Planning Tool Kit, Service-Learning Curriculum Guide, and posters. Best wishes for a great National Youth Service Day!

2005 YP Jam: BUILDING LEADERS FOR LIFE
"Building" will be a key theme running throughout the 2005 YP Jam as participants will have the opportunity for some hands on building to benefit Habitat for Humanity during the conference. Participants are asked to be collecting new or gently used children's books which will be placed into hand-built book cases to go into Habitat homes.

Other great service activities will take place during the conference. Brochures are now available for the 2005 YP Jam and an electronic version is available by clicking onto www.ypin.org. July 6-7th will be here soon, so make sure your organization has plans to attend. Besides being involved in community service, Jam participants will have many opportunities to grow as leaders throughout the low cost, spectacular, two day event. If you have questions, or would like more information, contact us at info@ypin.org.

SUMMER OF SERVICE: A NEW AMERICAN RITE OF PASSAGE?
A new report by Innovations in Civic Participation deliberates on the idea of a Summer of Service for youth. In the "Summer of Service: A New American Rite of Passage," the report outlines the potential for a new type of service program directed at middle-school youth. Based on research of numerous programs, this publication describes elements that would be common to Summer of Service programs. It includes youth and community benefits that would result from these programs, and illustrates the policy implications of this initiative. In our relatively young country, the establishment of such a "rite" for young Americans of all backgrounds could serve many purposes - young people leaning the responsibilities of citizenship and becoming connected to their communities, forging common bonds across economic and ethnic groups through common experiences; and helping young people develop in a positive, healthy way. A link to the full report can be found at: www.sagawajospin.com/ICP_Summer_of_Service.pdf.

Learning to Give Schools blaze a trail in Indiana
Fifteen schools across Indiana will be trendsetters in incorporating giving and serving curriculum coded to state standards in the education of K-12 students. There are still openings for two schools to participate with this first wave of partner schools. Learning to Give-Indiana provides partner schools with $2,000 in mini-grants over three years to assist with the program, teacher in-service, additional resources /units, media information, technical and teaching support and more. To participate, please call Kathy Matthies, Project Manager, at 317- 278-8975. For more information about the project, go to www.learningtogive.org.

April Calendar:
April 15-17, 2005 National Youth Service Day - www.ysa.org/nysd
April 15-17, 2005 Global Youth Service Day - www.gysd.org
April 17-23, 2005 National Volunteer Week - www.pointsoflight.org
April 22, 2005 Earth Day - www.earthday.org

Please forward the E-Chronicle on to others or send e-mail addresses to us and we will see that they are added to our list. If you received this as a forward and want to be added to the list, please send a message to ypii@aol.com. If you no longer wish to receive emails from YPII, just send a message to ypii@aol.com.

For more information, contact:
Jerry Finn, Program Manager (812) 923-2065
The Youth Philanthropy Initiative of Indiana (YPII)
32 East Washington Street, Suite 1100
Indianapolis, Indiana 46204
317.715.6709, YPII@aol.com, www.YPIN.org

Do you have a story that you would like to submit for the E-Chronicle? Send your story to Sarah Geis at sgeis@indianagrantmakers.org.

...growing lifelong philanthropists who give of their time, talent, and treasure for the common good.

Supporters of the Vision
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Indiana, Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, Community Partnerships with Youth, Emmis Communications, Indiana Association of Cities and Towns Foundation, Indiana Association of School Principals, Indiana Association of United Ways, Indiana Commission on Community Service & Volunteerism, Indiana Dollars for Scholars, Indiana Grantmakers Alliance, Indiana Humanities Council, Indiana Pacers Foundation, Indiana Youth Services Association, Indiana Youth Institute, Indianapolis Colts, The Jewish Federation of Greater Indianapolis, Junior Achievement of Central Indiana, Inc., Leadership Fort Wayne, Legacy Fund Community Foundation, a CICF affiliate, Learning To Give-Indiana, Mary E. Ober Foundation, MCCOY, Moore Foundation, South Madison Community Foundation Youth Commission, Y-Press, Youth As Resources/United Way of Central Indiana, Youth as Resources of Wayne County, YMCA of Greater Indianapolis, Youth Connections, and 4H Youth Development.