Kohl’s Honors Outstanding Young Volunteers

The Kohl’s Cares© Scholarship Program is looking for more than 2,300 outstanding young volunteers.  And they’re willing to reward commitment to community service by investing in generous scholarships and prizes totaling more than $425,000.

Families are often surprised to find that outside of academics and athletics, dedication to volunteerism is one of the best sources of scholarship support for college.  But like academics and athletics, you can’t come into the game late.  You have to build a consistent track record of service that begins long before second semester senior year when most high school students begin thinking about scholarships.

Recognizing the value of starting early, Kohl’s sponsors one of few programs that reward students as young as six years-old.   But the real focus is on volunteers who have established programs and asked others to share their vision of service and caring.  This year, Kohl’s Cares will award ten national winners $10,000 in scholarships along with an additional $1,000 donated to a nonprofit organization on each national winner’s behalf.

In 2012, Kohl’s honored Brianna Moore, a high school student from Detroit, who collected, decorated and delivered food baskets that fed more than 400 families in her community.  She also collected and provided hats and gloves for about 320 local school children to keep them warm during the harsh Detroit winter.  MacKenzie Bearup, 18, was recognized for founding Sheltering Books, Inc., an organization that has collected and donated more than 100,000 books to children in homeless shelters in 35 states as well as to underprivileged children in the Dominican Republic and Jamaica.

To be considered for a Kohl’s Cares scholarship, students must be nominated by adults familiar with their work.  Nominations will be accepted until March 15, 2013, and require a detailed description of activities taking place in the previous year.

And the prizes are wonderful.  Two nominees from each of the more than 1,100 Kohl’s stores nationwide will win $50 gift cards, and more than 200 will win regional scholarships worth $1,000.  The ten national awards will be selected from among regional winners.

Since 2001, Kohl’s has recognized more than 17,000 kids with more than $3.4 million in scholarships and prizes.  For more information or to begin the nomination process visit the Kohl’s Cares Scholarship website.