Do you have a passion for improving your community? The Acorn Fund for Youth at London Community Foundation supports and provides funding for youth-led projects and initiatives in London and Middlesex County.

This fund was established in 1998 with initial funding from the Community Fund and from the Greg Brydon Memorial Trust Fund at Thames Valley.

We invite you to consider applying for a grant for youth between 14 to 24 years of age if the project encompasses the following:

• Youth helping youth 
• Youth helping the community 
• Youth being helped by the community

The Foundation's Youth in Philanthropy Committee is responsible for awarding Acorn grants. Generally, the grant amount is a maximum of $1,000.

2012 Application Deadline is May 14, 2012.

Examples of Acorn Grants

Junior Achievement of London and District, $1,000.00
Company Program - A Student Venture to give 30 students the opportunity to experience the process involved in planning, organizing, operating and completing a fiscal cycle of a business.

LIFE*SPIN (Low-Income Family Empowerment Sole-Support Parents, $1,000.00
Building Common Ground: Old East Common, A program to empower urban children and their whole community to interact with and appreciate nature in a healthy, sustainable manner.

The Ausable Community Centre, $1,000.00
Establishing a Youth Action Committee for the Township of Lucan-Biddulph - a group of teens working together to advocate for youth issues and promote positive meaningful recreational and social opportunities in partnership with the community.

2010 Acorn Grants

Sexual Assault Centre of London, $1,080.00
Unity Walk. This walk is an effort by youth to raise awareness of the intertribal racism issue and promote harmony among each tribe.

The Sudanese Community Association of London, $1,000.00
Youth Initiative for Peer Support. A project to establish a Canadian Sudanese youth group, develop a peer mentoring program, and improve the children's parents understanding of Western culture.

2008 Acorn Grants

Crouch Neighbourhood Resource Centre, $989.97
The Hamilton Road Youth Entrepreneurs Tool Shed Project, to purchase tools for a seasonal odd job venture for youth ages 11-17 with an avid interest in working outdoors; intended to connect youth from the Hamilton Road community with local residents, business community partners, and pre-authorized green spaces to promote the services of snow shoveling, raking leaves, window washing and enhancing green spaces in the neighbourhood to promote stewardship of these natural areas around Hamilton Road; building community capacity, employment skills, social responsibility, environmental awareness.

London & Area Food Bank, $1,000.00
Arts for All Kids, Dance & Violin Studios, for dance shoes of various sizes and black metal music stands for the violin studio.

LUSO Community Services, $965.00
RAZE, a youth driven initiative; peer support for youth 14-18 in northeast London; twice monthly meetings to discuss, learn and share experiences, challenges and successes facing the rapidly evolving youth pop; three dinners to celebrate youth successes; creation of a scrapbook.

St. John Ambulance Foundation (London), $247.35
London Search & Rescue Team, Hug a Tree video project. Funding for a DVD/TV player combination to show the RCMP hug-a-tree videos to children (5-12 yrs); video teaches survival skills to children that they can draw upon if they ever find themselves lost in the woods.

The London Cinderella Project, $1,000.00
The London Cinderella Project (LCP) collects new and gently used formal attire and distributes the donations to grade eight graduated and high school prom attendees who could not otherwise afford to participate. Grant is for storage, dry cleaning and purchase of jewelry.