On July 21, 2016, DYCD celebrated the 10th annual free day at the Bronx Zoo. More than 5,000 young people from DYCD’s Beacon, COMPASS, Cornerstone and Fatherhood programs enjoyed a fun day filled with activities and more than 7,000 resident animals at the Zoo. Check out photos from the day on our DYCD Facebook page.

Participants of the Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) and the Young Adult Internship Program (YAIP) visited the FDNY Fire Academy on Randall’s Island in New York City on August 10, 2016 to participate in an educational and engaging Firefighter for a Day Event.

Throughout the day, the youth were able to meet with members of New York’s Bravest and take part in FDNY themed evolutions, which included challenging sessions of Calisthenics Training, Candidate Physical Ability Test (CPAT) Training, Mobile CPR Training and more. View images from this event on the DYCD Facebook Page.

Saturday, August 20, 2016, 10:00am – 2:00pm
Pier 2 in Brooklyn Bridge Park, Brooklyn, NY
Free for all ages
Games and races guarantee fun for the whole family at Pier 2 Family Field Day! This event is accessible to all ages and abilities. Enjoy obstacle courses on the play turf, bocce games, four square, and shuffleboard, basketball clinics presented by Big & Little Skills Academy, handball, and fitness classes led by Dodge YMCA! Find out more at www.brooklynbridgepark.org.

Saturday, August 20, 2016
Various locations
Summer Streets is an annual celebration of New York City’s most valuable public space—our streets. On three consecutive Saturdays in August, nearly seven miles of NYC’s streets are opened for people to play, run, walk and bike. Summer Streets provides space for healthy recreation and encourages New Yorkers to use more sustainable forms of transportation. In 2015, nearly 300,000 people took advantage of the open streets. Held between 7:00am to 1:00pm, Summer Streets extends from the Brooklyn Bridge to Central Park, along Park Avenue and connecting streets, with easy access from all points in New York City, allowing participants to plan a trip as long or short as they wish. All activities at Summer Streets are free of charge, and designed for people of all ages and ability levels to share the streets respectfully. Summer Streets is a project of the New York City Department of Transportation. For more details, please visit www.nyc.gov.

Currently through August 27, 2016
Tuesday – Saturday, 9:00am – 5:00pm
Poe Park Visitor Center
2640 Grand Concourse, Bronx, NY
Free for all ages
This photo exhibit is the result of a “people to people” cultural exchange in which the artist participated last October. The artist and group visited Havana, Cienfuegos, and Trinidad. Music and art were everywhere and the crumbling Spanish architecture made for some interesting images. The various images convey his impressions of Cuba and the Cuban people in an apolitical manner. The recent presidential visit and talk of lifting the embargo lend context to the images. For more information on the exhibition, visit NYC Parks.

Saturday, August 27, 2016, 10:00am – 2:00pm
The High Line
14th Street Passage at West 14th Street, New York, NY
Free for all ages
Enjoy a whole day of family fun on the High Line! Get your hands dirty in the mobile garden, create a large-scale art installation with an artist, hear stories from everyone’s favorite librarian, design custom-made structures with the Children’s Workyard Kit, and watch an outrageous variety show with the performers of Whoop Dee Doo! Each month features a different theme for the Make It! series. This program will make a splash—literally—with the surprise of water at every turn. Discover High Line design features including the Diller—von Furstenberg Water Feature, learn how plants absorb water, and more.

Sunday, August 28, 2016, 10:30am – 4:00pm
Green-Wood Cemetery
500 25th Street, Brooklyn, NY
Free for all ages
The Battle of Brooklyn, fought in 1776 on land that is now a part of Green-Wood, was the first battle of the American Revolution to be waged after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. On the 240th anniversary of the Battle of Brooklyn, Green-Wood hosts a day of free commemoration ceremonies, trolley tours, and 18th-century living. See parades, cannon fire, horse rides, reenactments and historic cooking. Living history events and activities will offer kids a real feel for life during the American Revolution. This is a great event for kids and families! To register for this free event, please visit the website.

Saturday, September 10, 2016, 11:00am – 3:00pm
Harbor View Lawn, Brooklyn Bridge Park, Brooklyn, NY
Free for all ages
The Brooklyn Kite Festival is annual celebration of the classic, electricity-free amusement of kite-flying that gathers thousands of revelers for a day of outdoor fun. The festival hosts a variety of booths from well-renowned kite makers as well as neat workshops for children where they can make their own personalized kites. Of course, festivalgoers can bring their own kites to fly, as the best part of a kite festival is seeing all the cool kites others bring. In addition to the kite-centric activities, the festival also hosts a variety of tasty snack options from local restaurants and food trucks. Watch your kite soar above the Manhattan skyline! For more festival details, please visit www.brooklynbridgepark.org.

September 15, 2016 – September 25, 2016
Free for all ages
This annual celebration of faith is well known for its festive atmosphere. The 11-day event features religious processions and colorful parades, live musical entertainment, ethnic food delicacies, dining at Little Italy’s famous restaurants and cafes and a world-famous cannolli-eating competition! A celebratory mass is held at the Most Precious Blood Church annually on September 19, the official Saint Day, followed by a religious procession where the statue of San Gennaro is carried from its home in the church through the streets of Little Italy. The festival is located on Mulberry Street between Canal and Houston Streets, plus Grand and Hester Streets between Mott and Baxter Streets in Manhattan. Please visit the website for a complete schedule.

The QuestBridge National College Match is a college and scholarship application process that helps outstanding low-income high school seniors gain admission and full four-year scholarships to the nation's most selective colleges. College Match Scholarships, which are provided by participating colleges, cover the full cost of tuition, room and board, are loan-free, and require no parental contribution. If you are a student who has achieved academic excellence in the face of economic challenges, you are encouraged to apply. QuestBridge’s college partners are committed to making college affordable for all students—regardless of financial background —and offer generous financial aid packages that cover 100 percent of demonstrated financial need. A typical QuestBridge College Match Scholarship package usually covers the full cost of tuition, which is usually $40,000 (depending on the college) and the full cost of room and board, which is usually $15,000 (depending on the college). To learn more and apply by Tuesday, September 27, 2016, visit www.questbridge.org.

Partnerships for Parks’ Capacity Fund makes grants to community groups working in NYC parks. Capacity Fund projects expand a community group’s ability to care for their park and to use their park to care for their community. Grants strengthen groups by investing in their outreach, membership, and program planning capacities. Strong applications propose projects that help groups become more visible in their communities, recruit people to get involved in creative ways, and expand collaborations with other neighborhood organizations. Applications must be received (not postmarked) by October 1, 2016. Late applications will be considered in the next funding cycle. Visit the City Parks Foundation for more details.

The Horatio Alger New York Scholarship Program provides financial assistance to students in the State of New York who have exhibited integrity and perseverance in overcoming personal adversity and who aspire to pursue higher education. The award is funded through the generosity of Association Member Paul Anthony Novelly. The applicant must have a strong commitment to pursue a bachelor's degree at an accredited institution. The student may begin his/her studies at a two-year institution and then transfer to a four-year institution. The applicant must also plan to enter college no later than the fall following high school graduation. Each applicant must demonstrate involvement in co-curricular and community activities. Scholarship recipients will be announced in January. The total value of this award is $7,000 paid out in installments annually. Apply at www.horatioalger.org by Tuesday, October 25, 2016.

The Center for Craft, Creativity & Design are accepting applications for the Craft Research Fund until October 31, 2016. The Mission of the fund is to advance, expand and support research about craft in the United States. The fund goals are to support innovative research on critical issues in craft theory and history; explore the inter-relationship among craft, art, design and contemporary culture; foster new cross-disciplinary approaches to scholarship in the craft field in the United States; and advance investigation of neglected questions on craft history and criticism in the United States.

Grant funds may be used for research related expenses such as travel, honoraria for contributors, salary for independent researchers, and/or support documentation such as images or rights to use images or text, as part of the research yet to be completed. The grant awards are not for the printing or dissemination of already completed research. For more information, please visit www.craftcreativitydesign.org.

The Voice of Democracy Scholarship Competition is an annual national audio essay contest that is designed to foster patriotism by giving high school students the opportunity to voice their opinions about their personal obligations as Americans, and address their responsibilities to our country. Applicants must win at the local level to advance to the district and state levels. Each department's first-place winner receives an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C., plus the opportunity to compete for the national scholarship. If selected as a first-place state winner, the applicant has to have the consent of his/her parent/guardian and school to attend the Voice of Democracy National Finals in Washington, D.C. as a guest of the VFW National Organization. State winners who do not attend will forfeit all rights to compete in the national finals and will be replaced by their state's second-place winner.

The amount of each award varies annually. The first-place national award winner receives $30,000. The total amount designated for the entire program, including local, district, state, and national awards, is more than $2.5 million. All awards are non-renewable. All national scholarships are paid directly to the American university, college or vocational/technical school as selected by the recipient. Prospective applicants must apply by Tuesday, November 1, 2016 at the VFW National Organization’s website.

The Countess Moira Charitable Foundation accept letters of inquiry year-round for operating, program, endowment and capital funding needs that support their mission statement: “The foundation’s mission is to aid the well-being of youth anywhere in the World”. Specifically, the foundation only considers unsolicited inquiries from organizations in the New York tri-state area, or national organizations that may also utilize funds in the broader international arena. Please be advised the foundation only makes grants to nonprofit organizations that have been granted tax-exempt status under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Qualified organizations may submit inquiries for operating, program, endowment and capital funding needs that support the mission of our foundation. For more information visit the foundation’s grant page.

Looking for an afterschool program in your neighborhood? Need information on improving reading skills or finding the nearest community center? The web application discoverDYCD allows you to search in multiple languages for DYCD-funded programs. You can search by borough, neighborhood or zip code, and discoverDYCD provides contact information, activities offered, and a mapping feature with navigation.
Categories of services include: Afterschool Programs, Family Support, Literacy Services, Youth Services and so much more! We hope you find discoverDYCD useful as you take advantage of the diverse resources and opportunities that New York City has to offer.