Students wishing to be a Writer of Compassion are invited to pen a story for the Project HumaneKind 2025 humane stories competition. Students in grades 7 and 8 are invited to write an imaginative story (fictional) or to retell a true story on the theme of animals and people helping each other in emotional and or physical ways that speak of compassionate action. The story can be about domestic pets, farm animals, or animals in the wild. Stories should be no more than 1,000 words in length. The competition is open to students attending public or private school in Santa Clara and San Mateo only.

The winner will receive a prize of $500, and two runners-up will receive prizes of $200 each. The winning story will be designed and illustrated by a professional artist and published on the PHK website.

Think of the many ways that animals help people: companionship, therapy, safety and rescue, support for soldiers, farm duties; and think of how people help animals in return. When you are inspired with an idea, write your story and send it to PHK! We look forward to reading it.

• How to submit your story: complete the submission form below.
• Deadline:  Stories are due by April 30, 2025. The winning story will be announced on June 1, 2025. The winning author will be requested to provide an interview with us sometime before the end of the school year. The winning stories will be published on the Project HumaneKind website in the fall of 2025.
• Project HumaneKind reserves the right to have the story reviewed by a professional editor and to retain distribution rights.