ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

• Applicants must be residents of Houston or of Greater Houston area. Greater Houston area is defined as cities within a 50-mile radius from downtown Houston.
• Volunteer community service is defined as nonpaying job benefiting the applicant’s neighborhood, city or school. Court ordered community service hours DO NOT count towards earning Youth of the Year Volunteer Award.
• Examples of acceptable volunteer community services may include but not limited to the following: Collecting school supplies destined for donations, planting a school garden, delivering meals to senior citizens, holding a recycling neighborhood drive, passing out food at a soup kitchen, raising funds for a special event or a community in crisis, performing physical labor for people in their community, mentoring young children, being a buddy for a mentally or physically disabled child, participating in a community event, making first aid kits for homeless shelters, participating in a neighborhood or beach cleanup, volunteering at ALCC events, etc.
• The Youth of the Year Award is divided into three age groups: 10 to 13 years old, 14 to 18 years old and 19 to 25 years old.
• Any hours earned serving the applicant’s parents or immediate family members do not count towards community volunteer service hours.

APPLICATION PROCESS

Each calendar year, the ALCC will grand an award for each age group and a plaque recognizing the youth’s community participation. Below are the listed awards:

• Winner of the youth age group 10 to 13 years old will an award equivalent to $500.00. 
• Winner of the youth age group 14 to 18 years old will receive an award equivalent to $1000.00. 
• Winner of the youth age group 19 to 25 years old will receive an award equivalent to $1,500.00. 

• 10 to 13 years old: 20 hours per calendar year. 
• 14 to 18 years old: 30 hours per calendar year. 
• 19 to 25 years old: 40 hours per calendar year.

Applications must be submitted by December 31 of each year, as per attached application form.

Upon receipt of the applications, the Youth of the Year Award Program Coordinator will review all applications to ensure they meet the above criteria. Once all applications are received within the aforementioned deadline, the coordinator will forward them to the Youth of the Year Review Award Committee. The identity of the applicants will be withheld to ensure selections are made solely based on the merits of the applications.

The Review Committee shall consist of one ALCC board member and two participants from the community to select a winner from each age group.

SELECTION AND NOTIFICATION

The Award Review Committee within 5 days of receipt of the applications will select the most deserving applicants from each age group and notify the Board of Directors of their decision. The coordinator will inform all applicants of the selection decision.

The award and the associated award certificate will be given to the selected youths at the next scheduled ALCC event.

CLICK HERE TO START THE YOUTH VOLUNTEER AWARD APPLICATION
DEADLINE: December 31, 2023