The Community Foundation of the Central Blue Ridge’s Youth Philanthropy Council Grants Celebration recognized 29 local high school students’ experiences learning about philanthropy.
The event, held at the Staunton Innovation Hub in downtown Staunton Wednesday night, also celebrated 15 SAW-area nonprofit organizations that received grants.
“Tonight did not disappoint in any way my expectation that I was going to walk away inspired by these teens, and the work and passion they put into this program. I’m glad so many community members came out to experience it for themselves,” Community Foundation CEO Dan Layman said.
Community Foundation Director of Educational Programming Miriam Burrows guided the 29 students from seven high schools and Stuart Hall through all aspects of grant-making and philanthropy. She celebrated with the students on a job well done.
“We’re here to serve our community and love our neighbors. These students pile on themselves responsibilities – college credits, jobs, expectations. They come into this space, and we get to shift their focus. Love of humankind is above what divides us,” Burrows said Wednesday night.
Riverheads High School senior Kate Schooley said the opportunity was “really influential” for her. She also enjoyed the opportunity, as a teenager, to give back to the community.
“I think this whole thing was really a unique opportunity to allow students to be in charge of where that money goes in our community. I feel like we have an interesting perspective as teenagers, especially in high school, on the issues that we find prevalent,” Schooley said.
Riverheads High sophomore Cy Jarvis said he and his fellow students saw the way the community works to help each other.
“It’s a unique experience in how we get to work with everyone and hear stories,” he said.
Cabell Caister, a senior at Waynesboro High School, is confident that the council participants were good stewards of the money entrusted to them, in alignment with the group’s funding priorities.
“Through my team with YPC, I’ve learned so much more about nonprofits, specifically how they operate and the good they can do in the community. I’ve also learned just how many organizations in the SAW community operate on a day-to-day basis. Trying to decide which organizations to fund this year was certainly difficult, but I’m confident we put the money we were allotted to the organizations we thought would have the greatest impact on the community,” Caister said.
Fifteen local nonprofits were awarded a total of $15,000 in grant funding: Augusta Regional Dental Clinic, Blue Ridge CASA for Children, Boys and Girls Club of Waynesboro, Staunton and Augusta County, EMBRACE, Housing Emergency Relief Organization, Love Forward Foundation, New Directions Center, Renewing Homes of Greater Augusta, Shenandoah LGBTQ Center, The Life Works Project, The Neighbor Bridge, Valley Children’s Advocacy Center, Valley Hope Counseling Center, Waynesboro Area Refuge Ministry and Waynesboro Public Library.
“We love the YPC. It’s an honor to get funding from them every year. I think (the vote of confidence is) more valuable than the adults sometimes, because they are far more discerning. [The grant] helps us serve more people. Any funding we get means we can offer more counseling hours to the community,” Ginny Harris, executive director of Valley Hope Counseling Center, said.
According to Kara Ferrell, program coordinator for New Directions Center, the YPC shows that the younger generation has more empathy than adults give them credit.
“They want to have spaces to be able to give back to their community. A lot of them just don’t know how. When they look at organizations that deal with the amount of violence that New Directions deals with, it shows they have an understanding and an awareness that people in our community are truly hurting,” Ferrell said.
The students learned a lot about their community, including the challenges that some members of the community face, which the students perhaps have not personally experienced, said Tony Davenport, chair of the Community Foundation board of directors.
“Their decisions, and their influence, can make a lasting impact on change; not for themselves, but for their friends, their classmates, their peers and everyone else in the community,” Davenport, whose child also participated in the YPC, said.
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Rebecca Barnabi
