Through service learning and leadership development, See Kids Dream aims to give youth choices… the choice to see beyond what’s directly in front of them, the choice to be part of a solution, and the choice to believe in what they CAN do. In See Kids Dream's service learning programs, youth are the ones who lead and who make all the project decisions. Over the course of a school year, kids identify challenges affecting their local community. Then they learn about the challenge by conducting online research and interviewing local experts. After gaining perspective, they decide how to help and make plans to take action. Some youth decide to conduct an advocacy campaign in order to inform the public and grow awareness about the challenge. Others choose to conduct a drive for spare change or for supplies, in order to provide direct cash grants and service projects to address the needs. Over the last 10 years, youth have raised and donated over $300,000 in cash donations and conducted over 120,000 hours of service through See Kids Dream’s service learning programs. Though these community benefits are undeniable, they are secondary to our primary goal of investing in youth. Our main focus is on increasing self-sufficiency in civic engagement by developing youth’s awareness of community issues; empathy; leadership skills; knowledge of community resources; and providing real-world service experience. All of See Kids Dream’s programs utilize the researched best practices of service learning and therefore, have continued to demonstrate a range of positive outcomes for youth from all socioeconomic backgrounds including: increased academic engagement; increased empathy and awareness of community needs; and development of 21st century leadership skills such as communication, teamwork, critical thinking and problem-solving. With community support, we are helping youth to develop the skills that are critical for success in school, in the workplace and in our communities.