The Community Foundation of the Central Blue Ridge announced its Youth Philanthropy Council has completed its work in reviewing applications for $25,000 in competitive grants to nine nonprofit organizations serving local youth in the independent cities of Staunton and Waynesboro, and Augusta County.
The Community Foundation established its YPC in 2008 in an effort to provide opportunities for local youth to gain leadership, consensus building, philanthropic, and decision-making skills, while making a difference for their peers in their communities. The YPC is comprised of 22 sophomores, juniors and seniors from ten local public and private high schools. Cristina Casado, the Foundation’s Director of Community Engagement, oversees the program.
The objectives of YPC are to promote youth development and community leadership through experiences of philanthropy, support local youth initiatives, and engage youth and adults in partnership through giving and serving our communities.
To arrive at their grant decision, the YPC first sought to broaden their understanding of the needs of their peers in the community. They invited community professionals to participate in a panel discussion on issues affecting youth. That led to the development of their 2018 funding priority to support programs that benefit local youth and their support systems.
Throughout the year, the YPC also met with nonprofit and community leaders on grant processes and evaluation criteria, and prepared a request for proposals that they delivered to the nonprofit community in November. Between January and March they evaluated a record number of grant applications, interviewed many of the finalists, unanimously agreed to fund nine nonprofit organizations, and allocated $25,000 in funding between them.
The 2018 Youth Philanthropy Grants Program recipients are: Valley Children’s Advocacy Center, Blue Ridge CASA for Children, Valley Mission, Valley Hope Counseling Center, Ride with Pride, Elk Hill Farm, Creative Works Farm, The Salvation Army (Waynesboro Corp.), and Girls on the Run, all of which benefit local youth and their support systems.
The YPC will present their grants to these organizations during a public ceremony, hosted by The Legacy at North Augusta in Staunton (1410 N. Augusta Street), on April 16 at 7:00 PM. Members of the community are welcome to attend. RSVPs may be given to the Community Foundation (213-2150 or [email protected]).
As this is the tenth anniversary of the YPC, the Community Foundation is planning for additional outreach to its YPC “alumni” during the summer months. In addition to learning about the paths chosen by each former member of the YPC, the Foundation hopes to gain a better understanding of this program’s impact on their thinking about community involvement.
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Chris Graham
