A group of Bay of Plenty teenage volunteers need your votes to help them claim their share of $20,000 prize money.

Tauranga-based Youth Search and Rescue has been announced as a top 10 finalist in the ‘regional grant' and ‘neighbourhood grant' category of the 2017 AMI Community Grants campaign.

Funding will be awarded to the five organisations with the most votes over both categories, with the voting period closing on March 24.

YSAR general manager Steve Campbell is urging Western Bay locals to back their teenagers by signing up and voting for them online through the Neighbourly website.

'We're stoked to make the top 10 and we'd be grateful for as much support as possible from the community and from family and friends throughout the country. These students are amazing and really deserve a shot at this.

'Just hit number 1 on the regional finalists' list.”

The three-year youth training and leadership programme teaches teenagers and equips them with the skills to become active community volunteers in the emergency management and search and rescue sector.

Training includes emergency management, information technology, leadership, search techniques, bush craft, navigation, tracking, first aid, rope systems, and geographical information systems.

'If we're one of the lucky top five organisations, we'll be putting the money towards our student training.”

Since YSAR's inception in 2009, more than 225 Western Bay teens have been through the programme which is delivered by skilled volunteer trainers with backgrounds in search and rescue, military, police and outdoor education.

Over the three-year programme, students put in 1600 hours of their own time spread over weekly classroom theory sessions, monthly weekend outdoor exercises and a five-day end-of-year search and rescue exercise.

As well as gaining search and rescue skills, they learn about leadership, problem solving and team work in challenging environments.

Steve says the programme includes training in new hi-tech digital communications equipment used in field exercises.

'This sets students up for future careers in science, technology and engineering and many have chosen to follow these STEM pathways.”

Voting in the 2017 AMI Community Grants campaign closes Friday, March 24.

To sign up and vote visit Neighbourly at www.neighbourly.co.nz and follow the steps.