GYSD 2021 Logo
Global Youth Service Day 2021 Logo

Global Youth Service Day (April 23-25, 2021) is the largest youth service and civic action event in the world and the only one that celebrates all youth ages 5-25 who help our communities and democracy thrive by working together for the common good. On Global Youth Service Day (GYSD), Youth Service America (YSA) calls on everyone to engage all young people and adult champions to serve, advocate, join, celebrate, or build capacity.

• 36 GYSD Lead Agencies are leading citywide or statewide partner coalitions to engage thousands of youth in service activities.
• 140 Hershey Heartwarming Young Heroes Grantees are leading community-building activities to foster meaningful connections, promote inclusion, and teach empathy.
• 120 Sodexo Stop Hunger Foundation Youth Grantees are addressing the hunger crisis by organizing food drives and fundraisers, growing healthy food in community gardens, and more.
• 60 YSA Afterschool Grantees are engaging their students in service-learning projects as part of their afterschool programs.

• Serve - Organize Awareness, Service, Advocacy, Philanthropy projects to address five cascading crises (the pandemic, economic inequity, systemic racism, climate change, and threats to democracy).
• Advocate - Amplify the voices of young activists on the issues they care about through voter registration, education, and mobilization; issue advocacy; and youth voice and leadership.
• Join & Lead - Add service and add members to afterschool and youth development programs.
• Celebrate - Share stories and recognize the power of youth changing the world.
• Build Capacity - Start working to achieve 50% Youth Participation by America250 on July 4, 2026 in your community.

Global Youth Service Day is powered by Youth Service America with funding from The Hershey Company's Heartwarming Project, Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, Sodexo Stop Hunger Foundation, The Allstate Foundation, and Hasbro Children's Fund.

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YSA (Youth Service America) believes that youth, communities, and democracy thrive when we all work together for the common good. YSA is a leading global nonprofit that activates young people, ages 5-25, to find their voice, take action and acquire powerful civic and 21st-century skills as they solve problems facing their communities. YSA supports its activation campaigns with grants, training and resources, and recognition programs for young people and their adult champions. Youth-led projects use Awareness, Service, Advocacy, and Philanthropy (ASAP) strategies to create social and environment change. www.YSA.org