FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 9, 2026

CONTACT: Court Beyer (cbeyer@americanhumanist.org)

American Humanists Launch the American Empathy Project
$100,000 in grants to be distributed to fund service projects across America

WASHINGTON – Today the American Humanist Association has opened grant applications for its inaugural year of the American Empathy Project (AEP). The Project aims to mobilize humanists across the country for a national day of service on May 2, 2026. Selected grantees will receive $1,000 from the AHA for their chosen project, along with planning support and additional project resources.

“The American Empathy Project is our response to the crisis of cruelty plaguing our country and communities,” said Fish Stark, Executive Director of the American Humanist Association. “With an administration in power that diminishes our collective humanity day by day, we knew it was incumbent upon us to put our values into action – to show up for each other where the system has failed.

“That’s where the American Empathy Project comes in. A single act of service can send a seismic ripple through a cynical world. As humanists, we know that a compassionate future doesn’t build itself, that the hope we’re searching for has to come from each other and within ourselves, stepping up to meet the moment with bravery and compassion.

“The world can feel broken, but people are still good. We hope the American Empathy Project creates a tidal wave of action that inspires more Americans to show up for each other and lead with empathy at a time when our government is doing everything in its power to divide us and pit neighbor against neighbor. Compassion will beat cruelty.”

Individuals applying for American Empathy Project grants can suggest their own service project, or select from a list of community-wide events:

• Food Over Cruelty: organize a food drive for a local food bank
• Care Over Cruelty: coordinate a medical debt jubilee
• Affirmation Over Cruelty: run a clothes drive for trans youth
• Welcoming Over Cruelty: conduct a supply drive to support immigrant families
• Conservation Over Cruelty: host a community environmental clean-up
• Respect Over Cruelty: facilitate a “joy drive” for a senior center

Organizers who share humanist beliefs and are excited to mobilize their communities on May 2 are encouraged to apply for grant funding at americanempathyproject.org by the March 13 deadline.

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The American Humanist Association (AHA) works to protect the rights of humanists, atheists, and other nontheistic Americans. The AHA advances the ethical and life-affirming worldview of humanism, which—without beliefs in gods or other supernatural forces—encourages individuals to live informed and meaningful lives that aspire to the greater good of humanity.

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