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DCF Youth Philanthropy Boards Award $50,000 in Grants Statewide

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High school students participating in the Youth Philanthropy Boards (YPB) of the Delaware Community Foundation (DCF) have awarded $50,000 to 19 nonprofit organizations throughout the state.

The DCF sponsors a YPB in each county, to encourage high school students to become more involved in philanthropy. Each board of high school students is allotted a pool of money to give as charitable grants.

Since September, YPB members have been studying youth issues in their neighborhoods and schools, learning about philanthropy and effective grantmaking, soliciting grant proposals and conducting site visits to nonprofit organizations. Using that knowledge and experience, the students awarded grants to nonprofits they determined to be most deserving.

The DCF provides $15,000 to New Castle County YPB and $10,000 each to the Kent and Sussex YPBs. This year, each board had an additional $5,000 to award to nonprofit organizations thanks to the generosity of Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester, founder of the GLOW Fund, a donor advised fund at the DCF.

Blunt Rochester, who visited and spoke with the YPBs in each county, said she trusted the students to make good decisions.

“I am so inspired when I see the passion these students bring to this project,” Blunt Rochester said. “By visiting the nonprofits around the state they have learned firsthand how these grants are making a positive change. I am so proud of the decisions they made with the money from my fund honoring my late husband, Charles.”

Kent County YPB focused on organizations that enhance and support youth development in Kent County, with preference for those that focus on mental health, the arts, hunger and/or agriculture programs. Kent County YPB grants were presented on April 8 at the Duncan Center in Dover. This year’s grants were awarded to:

$4,770 – Compassionate Hearts
$2,615 – Green Beret Project
$2,615 – Inner City Cultural League
$5,000 – Survivors of Abuse in Recovery

New Castle County YPB focused on post-secondary readiness and/or mentoring programs that serve teens and young adults in New Castle County, with special consideration for initiatives that build leadership opportunities, address specific challenges (including homelessness, substance abuse or violence), or target traditionally underserved populations (including low-income and immigrant youth).The NCC YPB will present grants at a ceremony on May 13 at 6 p.m. at the University & Whist Club in Wilmington. This year’s grants were awarded to:

$2,500 – Duffy’s Hope
$1,200 – EastSide Charter School
$2,000 – Girls Inc. of Delaware
$1,800 – I Am My Sister’s Keeper
$1,250 – Nativity Prep
$2,500 – One Village Alliance
$1,250 – TeenSHARP
$2,500 – Teen Warehouse
$2,500 – UrbanPromise
$2,500 – West End Neighborhood House

Sussex County YPB chose to focus on nonprofit organizations that focus on mentoring at-risk youth in Sussex County, with a preference for programs supporting those affected by substance abuse, sex trafficking and/or mental health issues. The Sussex County YPB will present grants at a ceremony on May 6 at 6 p.m. at the CHEER Center in Georgetown. This year’s grants were awarded to:

$2,500 – Connecting Generations
$3,000 – First State Community Action Agency
$2,500 – FORGE Youth & Family Academy
$3,000 – Laurel Public Library
$4,000 – Pathways to Success

Retired Delaware educator Phyllis Wynn established the Youth Philanthropy Fund in 1999 because she wanted to encourage youth to become more involved in philanthropic ventures. Students who serve on the YPB are nominated by their principal or guidance counselor.

“The Youth Philanthropy Board program does more than give kids the chance to make a difference,” DCF President & CEO Stuart Comstock-Gay said. “It gets them out into the community to experience firsthand the impact their work has on people’s lives.”