OUR MISSION The SYTA Youth Foundations SYF mission

OUR MISSION The SYTA Youth Foundation’s (SYF) mission is to impact the lives of culturally, linguistically or economically at-risk students and youth through travel experiences.

OUR VISION We believe that TRAVEL CHANGES YOUNG LIVES FOR GOOD, and to that end, the SYTA Youth Foundation strives to provide access to travel opportunities for the maximum number of young people that would otherwise be unavailable due to family hardship, budget cuts in school systems or simply lack of the access to or education about travel as a learning experience.

OUR PURPOSE Formed in the year 2000, the SYTA Youth Foundation is the 501(c)(3) philanthropic sister organization of the Student & Youth Travel Association (SYTA). The purpose of SYF is to create ongoing awareness, programs and travel experiences that directly impact the lives of at-risk students and youth for good. SYF acts as a vehicle for the many volunteer resources and funding capabilities available from SYTA members, the student and youth travel industry, the educational community and the public.

GOALS & OBJECTIVES

ENDOWMENT FUND The SYTA Youth Foundation Acorn Endowment Fund is a protected fund designed to make the foundation sustainable and to provide an ongoing resource for programs and scholarships. SYF contributes a percentage of its donations annually to this fund. We are excited to announce that in 2016 we contributed $75, 000, which increased our current Endowment Fund to $620, 000. Join our “In A Nutshell” movement to help us surpass our $1 M goal!

STUDENT STORIES

RIPLEY HUNTER “WORLD IS A CLASSROOM” ESSAY CONTEST THE ROAD SCHOLARSHIP THE SILVER LINING PROGRAM NEXT GENERATION

THE IMPACT The Student & Youth Travel Digest, June 2016

Last year a guest came in to my world issues class to speak about genocide. He was part of the UN Peacekeeping task force sent to Rwanda in 1994. When asked what we as individuals can do to prevent these massacres from reoccurring he stated that we simply must “be good. ” That’s it. Just be good. Be a good person, a good human being, a good neighbor, a good friend. A good person. His words have stuck with me ever since. That’s what I’m trying to be now. It is through travel that I have seen how incredibly alike we all are, regardless of the color of our skin, the language we speak, or the religion we follow. I may not be able to speak your language and we may not have the same skin color, but we both understand the same feelings of pain and hope. I want to use the world as my classroom to travel and write about the issues I am exposed to and wouldn’t have understood without my presence in that place. I want to use my abilities as a writer so that we can all understand there is something shared between us that makes us human; the ability to feel and to translate those feelings into “good” actions. This ability to feel is what makes us human, and it is what we must use to prevent tragedies like the Holocaust from ever reoccurring. It is immersive travel that has helped me to understand that. It is this lesson, this understanding of the “humanness” of us all that I wish to share through my travels and the writing that comes from it.

JOIN THE TEAM! The SYF Running for Youth team uses long distance running and walking as a symbol of endurance and hope. The goal is simple – to raise money for youth to travel with their school or youth organizations.

GET INVOLVED! Donate Today Become a SYF Event Sponsor Provide In-Kind Services Participate in the SYTA Annual Conference Foundation Events Become a Member Volunteer Sponsor a Fundraising Event or SYF Program

LEVELS OF GIVING Chairman Circle ($25, 000 and up) Platinum Circle ($10, 000 - $24, 999) Gold Circle ($5, 001 - $9, 999) Benefactor ($5, 000) Silver Circle ($1, 000 - $4, 900) Wingman ($350) Donor ($100 - $999. 99) Friend (up to $99)