|
Community Foundation Launches Eighth Annual $10,000
Community Spirit Youth Giving Challenge
Published: September 11, 2024
at 02:00 p.m.
By: Press Release from NNY Community Foundation
Community Foundation Launches Eighth Annual $10,000
Community Spirit Youth Giving Challenge
Tri-County Seventh and Eighth Graders Could Win One
of Ten $1,000 Grant Awards to Support a Favorite Local Charity
WATERTOWN — The Northern New
York Community Foundation’s 2024-2025 Community Spirit Youth Giving
Challenge is now open to tri-county students. The challenge seeks to
engage seventh and eighth graders in learning about their communities while
they compete for an opportunity to award a $1,000 grant to a local
nonprofit organization of their choice.
This is the
eighth year of the program, which is made possible by donors to the
Community Foundation’s Friends of the Foundation Annual Community
Betterment Fund, corporate support from Community Bank and a
major gift from an individual donor.
Students
presently enrolled in seventh and eighth grades in schools in Jefferson,
Lewis, or St. Lawrence counties are eligible to compete for a share of
$10,000 in total grant awards. Ten students will be selected to each
present a $1,000 grant to a tri-county charitable organization of their
choice. Entries will be competitively judged and should be well-written and
articulate a compelling case for support.
The initiative
aims to have students explore their view of “community” and select a local
charity for a grant award that makes their community a great place to live.
To enter the competition, students must complete an essay-based application
in writing. Schools are encouraged to create a class project or somehow
incorporate it into the curriculum.
“This program is
a unique way to encourage students to show support for the things that
matter most to them while considering the impact on the greater community,”
said Rande S. Richardson, Community Foundation executive director. “We are
hopeful that parents, teachers, coaches and others will share this
opportunity with eligible students in the tri-county area so we can have
the best representation possible among the ten winners.”
In its first
seven years, 122 students from 22 different tri-county school districts and
a homeschooled student have been selected to present 119 grants totaling
$70,000 to 84 different nonprofit organizations that serve tri-county
residents.
Applications are
available online at nnycf.org/givingchallenge, at local schools, or at the Northern New York Community
Foundation, 131 Washington St., Watertown. Students selected to award
grants in previous years are not eligible to enter.
Entries must be
made online, postmarked, or hand-delivered to the Community Foundation no
later than Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. A grant review committee will
judge all entries and select 10 winning students to present grant awards.
Eligible recipient organizations must be a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization
in Jefferson, Lewis, or St. Lawrence counties.
An announcement
of winning submissions and grant awards will be made no later than early
January. A Community Foundation representative will then contact winning
students to schedule them to personally visit their chosen organization,
learn more about its work and mission, and present their grant award.
Contact the Community Foundation, 315-782-7110, or info@nnycf.org,
to learn more about the Community Spirit Youth Giving Challenge.
About the
Northern New York Community Foundation
Since 1929, the
Northern New York Community Foundation has invested in improving and
enriching the quality of life for all in communities across Jefferson,
Lewis, and St. Lawrence counties.
Through
partnerships with businesses and organizations, charitable foundations, and
generous families and individual donors, the Community Foundation awards
grants and scholarships from an endowment and collection of funds that
benefit the region. Its commitment to donors helps individuals achieve
their charitable objectives now and for generations to come by preserving
and honoring legacies of community philanthropy while inspiring others.
The Community
Foundation is a resource for local charitable organizations, donors,
professional advisors and nonprofit organizations. It also works to bring
people together at its permanent home in the Northern New York Philanthropy
Center to discuss challenges our communities face and find creative
solutions that strengthen the region and make it a great place to live,
work, and play.
|
