Forward Turn

Forward Turn is sponsored by Community Foundation for Loudoun and Northern Fauquier Counties (in partnership with Youth Advisory Council in Loudoun County). Forward Turn is a youth-led charitable grantmaking program for Fauquier and Loudoun Counties. It considers applications that strengthen positive youth lifestyles, create united youth communities, and encourage community youth involvement.

Forward TurnCommunity Foundation2026-04-17T13:28:51-04:00 **_Applications are now closed for the 2026 grant cycle. _** Forward Turn is youth-led charitable grantmaking program that takes a “forward turn” to benefit communities in Fauquier and Loudoun Counties. To apply for a Forward Turn grant or to review the grant guidelines, visit: https://communityfoundationlf.

org/grant-seekers/. Forward Turn is a partner with Youth Advisory Council in Loudoun County and funded by the S. Murray and Mary H.

C. Rust Student Philanthropy Project endowment of the Community Foundation for Loudoun and Northern Fauquier Counties. Forward Turn Youth Advisors consider applications that Strengthen Positive Lifestyles, Create United Communities, and Encourage Community Involvement in Loudoun and Fauquier Counties.

Ideas for grants include initiatives that: * Address substance abuse and eating disorders in teens * Tutorial, mentoring, and educational support programs * Educate teen users about internet safety * Teach tolerance and anti-bullying to teens * Improve school attendance, reduce high-school drop out, and improve teen motivation * Demonstrate road safety and safe driving practices * Build meaningful links between youth, adults, and/or elderly * Help with teen hunger, clothing, shelter, and poverty influences * Bring awareness and helpful programs for teen depression and suicide * Support programs that protect and preserve our environment **Grant-making Priorities** * Projects that include collaboration with other youth, groups, churches, or charitable nonprofits * Projects that leverage additional resources, like volunteer time, in-kind gifts of materials or supplies, or that are matched by other funding sources * Ideas that have high impact with a small grant * Proposals written by Youth and for youth **Who is Eligible to Apply .

. . and, Who receives the grant?

** Forward Turn grant appli cants may be faith-based programs, government programs, area charities, and schools. While the grant application might be written and prepared by an adult project leader, we do require that a youth volunteer and program participant write a Letter of Endorsement that should be submitted with the grant application. We have a high priority for proposals written by youth.

Check out our past grants for ideas. Each year, Forward Turn students review grant submissions, interview the grantseekers who wrote them, and make tough recommendations to the Board of Directors of the Community Foundation for Loudoun and Northern Fauquier Counties for projects that should be funded. Here’s their past grantmaking work.

**2025-2026 Grants | $4,230 given in grants for youth driven projects:** * $1,000 to Blue Ridge Care (formerly Blue Ridge Hospice) to support bereaved youth attending Camp Kaleidoscope grief camp at Oak Spring Garden Foundation * $1,500 to Dulles South Food Pantry to support increased Backpack Buddies summer food bags to combat youth food insecurity in Loudoun * $1,230 to Sustainability Matters to support the W&OD Corridor Ashburn Meadows Project and Engaging Youth Through Green Spaces * $500 to Ryan Bartel Foundation to support developing and launching a mobile application for teen mental health **2024-2025 Grants | $4,140 given in grants for youth driven projects:** * $1,400 to Knot Perfect to support youth service opportunities to feed the hungry * $740 to Loudoun Volunteer Care Givers to support for quality-of-life programs for seniors and adults with disabilities in Loudoun County through the LVC Student Caregivers program * $1,000 to Dulles South Food Pantry to support the Backpack Buddies Program for teens in Loudoun County * $1,000 to Northern Virginia Science Center to support STEM for All, to inspire a love of STEM at Title 1 Loudoun County elementary schools **2023-2024 Grants | $4,000 given in grants for youth driven projects:** * $500 to Loudoun Youth to support their program to empower youth by connecting them with local volunteer opportunities * $500 to Loudoun County Magazine to support Loudoun Youth Poet Laureate * $500 to Princess Packages to support craft kits for children in homeless shelters and hospitals, made by high school volunteers * $1,000 to Ryan Bartel Foundation to support a peer-led, teen mental wellness support group in Loudoun County * $1,500 to Dulles South Food Pantry to their Backpack Buddies program to fight childhood food insecurity in Loudoun County **2022-2023 Grants | $4,150 given in grants for youth driven projects:** * $1,000 to Dulles South Food Pantry to support snack packs for children and teens in Dulles South and surrounding areas * $1,000 to Women Giving Back to support summer enrichment resource fair extravaganza to support Loudoun youth * $750 to Belmont Ridge Middle School to support youth-led program for teens in Loudoun middle and high schools addressing stress relief and building resilience * $500 to Loudoun County Magazine to support youth exploration of art, journalism and dialogue opportunities in Loudoun County * $500 to Loudoun Youth, Inc. to support Claude Moore Community Building program connecting high school students with volunteer opportunities in local nonprofits * $400 Joshua’s Hands to support Valiant Warrior Quilting project with youth volunteers **2021-2022 Grants | $4,280 given in grants for youth driven projects:** * $1,500 grant to PASTA (Peers and Students Taking Action) to support the creation of Passion Kits and to fund the Penne Pals Mentorship program; * $1,500 grant to Dulles South Food Pantry to support the Backpack Buddies program; * $780 grant to Dulles South Soup Kitchen to support the Community Direct Meal Distribution and Reoccurring Food Drop Off programs; and, * $500 grant to Loudoun Youth to support the Claude Moore Community Builders program.

**2020-2021 Grants | $4,000 given in grants for youth driven projects:** * $1,000 to Loudoun Habitat for Humanity to support the creation of welcome baskets providing supplies to new homeowners; * $500 to MEDLIFE NoVA to support various events in the community supporting Loudoun County; * $1,500 to This Is My Brave to support their new BraveKids Box mental health subscription box project; and, * $1,000 to Children’s Science Center to support accessibility to the Youth Advisory Board’s 2022 Earth Day Extravaganza for students in Title I schools **2019-2020 Grants | $3,500 given in grants for youth driven projects:** * $1,000 Loudoun Habitat for Humanity for youth built home planter boxes * $1,000 Mobile Hope Association to support cooking classes for at-risk youth * $1,500 Dulles South Food Pantry to support the Pantry’s backpack food program for LCPS students **2018-2019 Grants | $3,500 given in grants for youth driven projects:** * $1,250 to the Academies of Loudoun RESET Club, funding supplies for STEM program * $1,250 to Princess Packages, a newly formed, student-led nonprofit organization providing care packages to hospitalized children * $1,000 to Loudoun Habitat for Humanity, supporting youth-led construction and delivery of playhouses to low-income households or community shelters **2017-2018 Grants | $3,500 given in grants for youth driven projects:** * $1,500 Healing Hooves suicide program Ride-On Ranch * $425 support for a youth volunteer program through Loudoun Volunteer Caregivers * $425 to help sponsor a Youth Summit with Loudoun County Public Schools * $1,500 for a healing hooves suicide prevention program through Ride On Ranch **2016 – 2017 Grants | $3,500 given in grants for youth driven projects:** * $600 to offset materials costs to build a wheel-chair ramp by the Foxcroft School Engineering Team * $800 to the Highlands School Robotics Team * $600 to Loudoun Habitat for Humanity for its Youth Ambassador program * $1,500 to Loudoun Youth to help support and sponsor Step Up **2015 – 2016 Grants $5,000 given in grants for youth driven projects:** * $1,500 For Smashing Walnuts and its fundraising program during the May 6th, 2014, GiveChoose online giving day * $2,000 For INOVA Loudoun and its partnership with James Madison High School to offset costs for children’s play area in the hospital waiting area * $500 To Foxcroft School’s engineering team, to offset costs for materials to build waiting room benches at Middleburg’s Seven Loaves food pantry.

* $250 For Step-Up participant Lauren Mooney’s (a Briar Woods High School Student) “Finding your Forte” music therapy program benefitting Sulley Elementary School students * $250 For Step-Up participant Breanna Heiston, Loudoun Valley High School, for her work with A Place to Be music therapy * $500 For LAWS’ partnership with Dominion High School to create a youth suicide awareness program **2014 – 2015 Grants | $4,000 given in grants for youth driven projects:** * $500 for Loudoun Habitat for Humanity to help start a “United Youth” program linking Key Club students as Tuscarora High with volunteers of Habitat to serve lunches to volunteers, raise funds and more for the organization.

* $1,000 to Highland School to support a “teens opposing poverty” project, recruiting students to help provide food and personal products to homeless families in Fauquier County. * $1,500 to Loudoun Volunteer Caregivers to help expand the organization’s “youth caregivers” program partnering adult volunteers with youth volunteers helping home and services to housebound Loudoun citizens.

* $1,000 to McLean Bible Church to join in a community wide effort with area schools to donate gently used (and with our funds buy) shoes for kids in the Dominion Republic. **2014 – 2015 Grants | $5,000 given in grants for youth driven projects:** * $1,400 “Bedtime Stories” by a Heritage High School student to create a DVD project of local elderly reading a child’s book to send to family across the miles.

* $2,000 “Work on Hebron House” by youth volunteers with Good Shepherd Alliance to upgrade homeless housing shelter * $600 “Engineering Programs In Service Learning” a Foxcroft School project involving an all-girls engineering service projects in the community * $500 each to support Loudoun Youth Advisory Council’s Annual Step-Up service projects competition within Loudoun County Public Schools. * $500 J.

Michael Lunsford Middle School “Mission Green Team” to build a box garden and encourage a clean environment! Four young middle school boys are on a mission to educate others about how to keep our environment clean. * $500 Freedom High School “BEAST” program to support a before and after school tutoring created and implemented by honor students who set up tutoring for other students in an informal setting at school.

The grant helped expand capacity to add sessions with support for workbooks and other supplies. **2013 – 2014 Grants | $5,000 given in grants for youth driven projects:** * $2,500 The Loudoun Symphony for the Loudoun Youth Symphony Orchestra (LYSO): Ensembles For Everyone to help develop a pilot program for students with special needs to experience and participate in a musical performance with the LYSO.

* $2,500 Woodgrove High School Nature Trail and Outdoor Classrooms to create a nature trail and outdoor classrooms that allow students, both at Woodgrove High School and Mountain View Elementary School, to observe, experience, appreciate, and learn about the environment and it’s natural beauty.

The Student Philanthropy Project funded the first of three phases which includes the installment of one outdoor classroom, two bridges, and half of the trail connecting Mountain View Elementary School with the western perimeter of Woodgrove High School. The trail will also be available for cross country training.

**2012 – 2013 | Grants $5,000 given in grants for youth driven projects:** * $1,500 For the Highlands School Robotics Program, Warrenton, Va, supporting a STEM-based program that integrates fund, robot building, match, science and teamwork * $500 for Loudoun Cares, Leesburg, VA, providing support for its youth internship program that deploys high school students to area nonprofits for substantive volunteer projects * $1,000 Boulder Retreat for Wounded Warriors, Bluemont, Va, to help support construction of a children’s playground for Vets and their recovering families * $1,000 Foxcroft School All Girls Engineering Team, Middleburg, VA, to offset costs of materials and supplies to engineer and construct a handicap accessible picnic table to be built at Boulder Retreat for Wounded Warriors * $500 For Freedom High’s Gold Ribbon project for Pediatric Cancer awareness, South Riding, VA * $500 for L.

Michael Lunsford Middle School’s Learning Instantly program, Chantilly, Va Through the Community Foundation, you can help your community in many ways: * You can set up a fund in your name or anonymously, contribute funds to it, add to it as you wish, and recommend which charitable organizations you want to support each year.

* You can set up a permanent endowment fund that can grant monies each year to a cause or organization of your choice. * You can make an outright donation to the Community Foundation to its permanent Community Fund or General Fund. * You can contribute to any Community Foundation funds that support your charitable interests.