MSU students work with children at Vumunzuku Bya-Vana — "Our Children's Future" (VVOCF), an orphan care center in South Africa for children made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS. 

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EAST LANSING, Mich. — A Michigan State University student project to provide supplemental meals and build a safe house in Zonkiziziwe, South Africa, will receive funds from former President Bill Clinton's youth humanitarian program.

The Clinton Global Initiative University (CGIU) recently announced the winners of its Outstanding Commitment Awards, which recognize projects aimed at improving communities around the world. CGIU encourages students to tackle global education, energy and climate change, global health, peace and human rights and poverty alleviation.

Led by James Madison junior Courtney Hurtt, who's majoring in comparative cultures and policy at MSU, the university-funded student group Multi-Racial Unity Living Experience (MRULE) will receive $5,000 toward building a safe house with Vumunzuku Bya-Vana -"Our Children's Future" (VVOCF), an orphan care center in South Africa.

The center is the community's only structured support for youth made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS. When complete, the safe house will offer temporary shelter for children who are victims of abuse while staff members work with the social services to ensure greater safety. Services will also include three meals a day and guided access to medical needs.

MRULE's commitment is one of 78 projects sharing $400,000 from CGIU. The Wal-Mart Foundation and the Pat Tillman Foundation, created to honor football player Pat Tillman after he was killed while serving in Afghanistan in 2004, are providing the grants for the projects.

The CGIU Outstanding Commitment Awards were piloted in 2008 to provide financial support to innovative, student-driven initiatives. The awards recognize students and student organizations from a variety of higher education institutions, including community colleges, historically black colleges and universities, Ivy League schools, religious schools, tribal colleges and state schools.

This is the second CGIU award for MRULE. In 2008, it received $2,500 for developing psychosocial support for children and youth at VVOCF. Jeanne Gazel, who is currently in South Africa with an MSU study abroad program, is MRULE's faculty adviser.

The grant winners were chosen from more than 1,000 applications worldwide. Along with these projects, students have made 1,700 pledges of action to tackle the world's problems at www.cgiu.org.