YES program offers funds to youth volunteers for college Published June 23, 2011 By 81st Training Wing Public Affairs KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. -- The youth employment skills program is a volunteer internship program funded by the Air Force Aid Society and jointly administered by AFAS and Air Force Airman and Family Services Flight. This program gives high school aged dependents of active duty Air Force members a chance to learn valuable work skills while having a positive impact on their base communities. "YES is a year-round program," said Ann Smith, youth programs director for the 81st Force Support Squadron. "The program is only available to dependents of activeduty Air Force members. One challenge we have is that many of our teens are dependents of retired military, Navy and Army and aren't eligible. I wish we had a local scholarship fund for those kids." Program participation incentives are in the form of dollar credits for grant funding. The YES program allows all certified and enrolled high school students to "bank" volunteer dollar credits toward their post-econdary education/training at a rate of $4 per hour volunteered in an on-installation position. Students may accumulate up to 250 hours during their high school education, for a potential $1,000 maximum. In addition, the participating installation youth program "banks" base community credits at a rate of $2 for every hour volunteered per student up to a maximum of $10,000 per program year, June 1 through May 31 of each year. For more information, call 377-4116 or log on to http://www.afas.org/community/YESProgram.cfm. Yolanda Wallace and Susan Griggs contributed to this report.