The annual FSYF Community Service Contest recognizes U.S. Foreign Service youth who demonstrate outstanding volunteer efforts in service to their community or to their peers.
The award sponsor, Clements Worldwide, has generously donated the award money for this contest. Clements wants to celebrate our Foreign Service youth who get involved in and give back to their communities, whether domestic or overseas. FS Youth can be nominated either for a distinct project or for a history of dedicated service.
Award Details
Two winners will receive generous cash prizes of $2,000 each, made possible by Clements Worldwide Insurance. Both winners will be honored at the Youth Awards Ceremony in July 2018.
Contest Eligibility
All FSYF contests are open to children of U.S. Foreign Affairs agency officials who are eligible for overseas assignment and who report to the Chief of Mission when at post. Entry is free to FSYF members.
If you are not a member of FSYF (and do not wish to join at this time) you can still enter the FSYF contests by paying an entry fee of $20 per person, per contest (only one entry can be submitted for each contest).
The contest is open to FS youth living both domestically and at overseas posts. The children of FSYF Board Members and staff are not eligible to participate in the Community Service Award.
2017 Award Recipients
Mackenzie Scheer
Founder, Please Learn and
Understand Menstruation (PLUM)
Kathmandu, Nepal
Mackenzie Scheer is 16 years old and a rising high school junior. While posted in Kathmandu, Nepal, Mackenzie founded PLUM (Please Learn and Understand Menstruation). Mackenzie’s efforts have helped local Nepalese girls learn and take control of their reproductive health, and provided a solution to increase school attendance rates for female Nepalese students. She will transfer to Bishkek International School where she hopes to continue a similar service project while posted there. Mackenzie has also been posted to Kigali, Rwanda; Muscat, Oman; Dublin, Ireland; San Salvador, El Salvador; and Warsaw, Poland. Mackenzie asserts: “Basketball is by far my favorite sport, but I also play volleyball, soccer, and swim.” Mackenzie also finds time to participate in the Spanish Club, play trombone in band, and perform in several theatrical performances.
Ryan Brown
Boy Scouts/Inter-Cultural Dance Exchange
The Hague, Netherlands
Ryan Brown is 13 years old, and just completed 7th grade at the American School of The Hague. Ryan is very active in his community. He serves as a Boy Scout, is involved in numerous community service activities, and is a member of Student Council. Ryan is quite the athlete, participating in swimming, break dancing, track and field, and cross country to name a few. Ryan is also fun-loving. He was able to use street dancing as a means for cultural exchange with dispossessed refugees currently living in Holland. Ryan's dance exchange helped to unite the community and create an environment for cultural understanding.
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