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STUDENT PHILANTHROPY EFFORTS EARN NATIONAL AWARD |
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June 04, 2009
GROVE CITY, Pa. – Preparing teens for life after foster care is an important task, and The Bair Foundation, a nationally recognized Christian foster care agency, was ready to take on the challenge. The only piece missing was the start-up money.
That piece fell into place last fall, thanks to funding from the Grove City College Student Philanthropy Project and the work of senior Hannah Kertland of Harrisburg, Pa.; junior Sarah Lutz of Altoona, Pa.; and senior Alissa Thompson of Parker, Colo. For the students, what began as a class project became a partnership – a partnership that has garnered one of 10 national 2009 Student Leadership Awards from The Jenzabar Foundation, an organization that seeks to reward innovative student community service projects.
In recognition of the award, the foundation made a grant of $5,000 to Grove City College to help further the Student Philanthropy Project. Lutz and class instructor Dr. Jennifer Scott ’99, chairman of the Department of Communication Studies, received the award May 28 at the national Jenzabar conference in National Harbor, Md., on behalf of the College.
The foundation received nearly 150 award submissions from students, non-profit organizations and institutions across the globe, representing ongoing activities or projects completed during the 2008-2009 academic year. Nominations were evaluated according to the community service or humanitarian endeavors’ beneficiary impact, campus influence, model, outcome and presentation.
Kertland, Lutz and Thompson was part of a “student community board” supporting The Bair Foundation during the project in the fall 2008 Professional Speaking and Writing class. The class researched regional non profits and decided how to distribute an allotted $4,000. The students formed six community boards, developed and appraised proposals on the six chosen non profits and then worked as a group to select three of the organizations to receive grants.
The Bair Foundation was a unanimous choice to receive $1,000 to help start an Independent Living Program. According to the New Wilmington, Pa.-based, agency, older children tend to drop out of foster care. These youths may not have completed school and may not have the necessary skills to live as working adults. The agency developed a program to help keep these young people in foster care, help them achieve completion and even continuance of their educations and develop life skills. The only thing needed was the curriculum materials. The Bair Foundation has successfully cared for and treated children, teens and families for over 40 years. It is a recognized leader in the field of therapeutic foster care and has 31 offices operating in seven states.
Although that particular project concluded at the end of the fall semester, the three students continued to work with the foundation. Thompson, a sociology major, volunteered with the foundation during spring semester 2009. Kertland, an English major, has also chosen to intern with the foundation’s Harrisburg/Middletown, Pa., office. Lutz, a communication studies major, has expressed interest in a future internship with the marketing department.
Since 2007, the Student Philanthropy Project has touched the lives of 70 Grove City College students, the selected regional non profits and countless citizens serviced by these organizations. The project helps students learn how to be engaged citizens and to understand the important role philanthropy plays in the health of local communities. Students in the project classes are responsible for real dollars to invest in the community, enabling faculty to use student philanthropy as a community-based learning pedagogy.
This course-based philanthropy model started in Kentucky with the Mayerson Foundation in 2000 and was later implemented at over 16 colleges and universities in Kentucky and Ohio by Roger Grein, Cincinnati philanthropist and businessman. The fall 2008 class used funding contributed by Pittsburgh 250 Community Connections and The Sprout Fund.
The Jenzabar Foundation issues grants to institutions of higher education and other charitable organizations with similarly aligned missions, and helps promote the activities of grant recipients within their communities and on a global level. The Jenzabar Foundation is a charitable and educational organization that received its initial funding from Jenzabar, Inc., but is now seeking financial support from the general public. Foundation grants are managed by the Foundation itself or through cooperating educational organizations. For more information please visit The Foundation Web site at www.thejenzabarfoundation.org.
The second annual awards also recognized community service projects at Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, Calif.; Edgewood College in Madison, Wisc.; Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass.; Flagler College in St. Augustine, Fla.; Franklin Pierce University in Rindge, N.H.; Keuka College in Keuka Park, N.Y.; The University of Tulsa in Oklahoma; The University of Dubuque in Dubuque, Ill.; and the University of Saint Francis in Fort Wayne, Ind.
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