What began with a handful of students, a few collection buckets, and a big idea has become a tradition that continues to inspire the next generation of Youth in Government leaders.
Sometimes the biggest lessons come from the smallest gestures.
Spare change left over after lunch or a few dollars here and there.
That’s the heart of whY I Give, a student-led fundraising tradition that has been part of YMCA Youth in Government (YIG) since 2014. The campaign happens at both Youth in Government and Model United Nations conferences and invites students to give back to a program that has made a difference in their own lives and strives to help ensure that other young people have the opportunity to experience it too.
The campaign is coordinated by the State Steering Committee chair and vice chair, who recruit student volunteers to staff the fundraising tables and select the small gifts students receive when they contribute. Wristbands, lanyards, stickers, and pins have become familiar reminders of the campaign—and of the idea behind it.
Between the two conferences, whY I Give brings in between $3,000 to $5,000 each year.
In 2014, Kristina Hufnagle was chair of the State Steering Committee, and Jack Ellis was vice chair. Valerie Dosland was an adult member of the Board who challenged them to find a way to get more students involved in fundraising.
In a letter she wrote to recruit volunteers, Kristina wrote,
Let’s remember why we want to give in the first place. We donate because we are strong believers in philanthropy! We never want to turn away a delegate who could benefit from the program simply because they can’t afford it. We can all agree, Youth In Government has made a positive impact on our lives, and we should extend the opportunity to as many teens as possible. So it’s time for us to unite as a program as a whole for a greater cause.
And the students responded.
That first year, the campaign raised over $3,500—far exceeding the expectations of its student founders.
“We were trying to get a few hundred or maybe even $1,000,” Jack recalls. “We were blown away by how quickly it caught on.”
For Jack, the success was about the power of a story. When students understood why giving mattered, they connected with the purpose. The campaign brought together philanthropy, citizenship, and the idea that being part of a community also means having a responsibility to give back.
He believes the reason it endured is the connection to its original purpose. The campaign was never just about collecting donations. It was about teaching students why giving back is important and helping them become lifelong supporters of the causes and communities that matter to them.
Kristina shared, “I feel very proud of the fact that it’s grown, evolved, changed, endured,” she says. “It’s really meaningful to me that it’s still going strong 12 years later.”
Senior Program Director James Farnsworth shared, “whY I Give is a beautiful example of the power of paying it forward. Observing our students proactively lifting each other up and supporting the next generation through philanthropy is incredibly inspiring.”
More than a decade after Kristina and Jack first invited delegates to participate, today's students are carrying that invitation forward. They may not know the story of the original collection buckets or the student leaders who dreamed up the campaign in 2014. But every time they drop a few dollars into a collection bucket, volunteer at a fundraising table, or encourage a fellow delegate to give, they become part of that story.
A handful of spare change becomes thousands of dollars. A student fundraising project becomes a tradition. And a lesson about giving back becomes something students can carry with them long after their conference experience ends.
Because sometimes the best way to say thank you for an opportunity is to help make sure someone else gets one, too.