Events
What's coming, and what just happened
The program runs on an annual rhythm — applications, matching, and the month itself in July.
Coming up
- 2027Host family and teen applications open right nowOpen to Delaware families with a teen aged 14–16. Host family application · Teen application
- 12/2Good Trouble: An Evening with Author Dr. Forest Isaac JonesWilmington Friends School, 7:00 PM. Free and open to the public. Register
Can't host?
There's a lot to do that isn't hosting
Most of what July needs comes from people who aren't a host family. If a spare room isn't in the cards right now, these are real, needed ways in.
Group leader or chaperone
Help run day trips and activities alongside the four group leaders. No overnight commitment required.
Carpool driver
Host families rely on a shared carpool network to get everyone to activities. An hour here and there adds up.
5K day-of crew
Race-day setup, registration, water stations, cleanup — our annual 5K runs on volunteers, not just runners.
Meals and potlucks
Group meals happen throughout the month. Cooking for the whole group once is a real contribution.
Committee & planning
Year-round committee work — recruiting host families, fundraising, logistics — keeps the summer possible.
Alumni & mentorship
Past host families and teens often stay involved, welcoming new families and sharing what the month is really like.
Support the project
Host families cover a bed. Donors cover the bus.
Running the program for 100+ family members costs about $75,000 a year, and the $225 family fee covers only a fraction of that. Transportation is our single largest expense — moving the group around Delaware and up the coast for four weeks. We have exactly one paid position — a fractional executive director who keeps the train running on time and holds program quality — and no office. Everyone else is a volunteer, and nearly 30 teens and leaders carry this organization’s name each summer. Everything else we raise goes straight into the July program.
Museum admission tickets for one teen on a day trip.
Program enhancements that make the experience great — frames for final dinner awards, keepsakes, and the details that stick with teens long after July.
Supports a full day of programming on one of our day trips — activities, admissions, and logistics for the whole group.
For businesses
Sponsor the whole summer for $5,000
Your name on every teen's t-shirt, top billing across the program, and a direct line to 12 families who'll remember who made their summer possible. Prefer a smaller commitment? 5K shirt sponsorship starts at $375 — your name on every runner.
Ulster Project Delaware, Inc. is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit run by volunteers, with one part-time paid staff member. Donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. Many employers match — Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase employees have matched gifts to us this year.
Business sponsorship
Put your name behind twenty-eight teenagers building peace this July.
Ulster Project Delaware runs on about $75,000 a year, one part-time paid staff member, and no office. A business sponsorship is the single biggest lever we have — it covers what host family fees and small gifts can’t.
Who this actually reaches
Thirty participants. Hundreds of people touched.
The program has just over 30 direct participants — 28 teens and their four group leaders. But the reach runs far wider than that roster. Every host household is in it: parents, siblings, and grandparents on the Delaware side, and the families back in Portadown who send a child across an ocean and follow the whole month from home. Then there is everyone the group meets along the way — the organizations they serve on service projects across Wilmington, the congregations who open their doors, the museum and day-trip staff who host 30 teenagers at a time, the neighbors at potlucks and closing weekend, and the runners and volunteers at the 5K.
Counted honestly, a single July puts this program in front of hundreds of people. Your name travels with all of it.
- Name printed on every participant’s t-shirt
- Listing on the website’s sponsor section
- One social media thank-you post
- Recognition at the closing ceremony
- Logo (not just name) on every t-shirt
- Featured listing on the website, above Friend-level sponsors
- Two social media posts across the season
- Named recognition at the closing ceremony
- Invitation for two to the closing dinner
- Top billing: “Presented by [you]” on t-shirts and materials
- Logo at the top of the website all season
- Dedicated social media feature and season-long tag
- Speaking recognition at the closing ceremony
- Table for four at the closing dinner
- First right of renewal for next year
Just want the 5K?
Sponsor our Annual 5K Run/Walk instead.
If a season-long commitment is more than you’re looking for, 5K shirt sponsorship starts at $375 — your name on every runner — plus event signage and the registration website. A smaller ask with real visibility on the day.
Not a fit as written?
Packages can be customized.
In-kind gifts, a matched-giving structure, event-day-only sponsorship, a multi-year commitment — if one of the three tiers isn’t quite right, tell us what you have in mind and we’ll build something that works for your business.
How it works
From a yes to a t-shirt with your name on it
- Pick a level, or ask for something custom. Email us and we’ll send a one-page agreement — nothing complicated.
- Send your logo. We handle placement on t-shirts, the website, and event materials.
- We do the program. Twenty-eight teens, four weeks, the same commitment we’ve kept for fifty years.
- You get a tax receipt and an invitation. Ulster Project Delaware, Inc. is a 501(c)(3); come to closing weekend and meet the group your name helped bring together.