YSU's Pay It Forward Helps Boys & Girls Club
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Youngstown State University students in the nonprofit leadership academic program gained hands-on experience in philanthropy this spring through Pay It Forward: Strengthening Communities and the Student-Led Philanthropy Initiative. Students had $2,000 to award to a regional nonprofit organization.
The students focused funding decisions on programs and projects related to hunger, performing arts and youth development, awarding the $2,000 to The Boys & Girls Club of Youngstown for the “Join The Workforce: Junior Staff Program.” It gives teens the opportunity to manage younger children and their peers, provides them with club responsibilities and gives them a chance for a better future by instilling a work ethic and teaching teamwork. The Pay It Forward funds will be used to give two youths the opportunity to be “Junior Staffers” this spring at the Boys & Girls Club.
In total this spring, the students reviewed more than 20 proposals that requested more than $53,000.
The Pay It Forward Initiative helps YSU students learn how to be engaged citizens and understand the importance of philanthropy in the health of local communities while meeting specific goals in their coursework, officials said. The initiative will address critical economic needs in the Mahoning Valley through student-led grant making and volunteerism.
The Center for Nonprofit Leadership has received grant funding from Ohio Campus Compact/Learn and Serve America to add a philanthropy component to several courses in the Williamson College of Business Administration. This year, funding is available as a result of student fundraising efforts to sustain this initiative on campus.
YSU students also participated in the Pay It Forward: Strengthening Communities through Student-Led Philanthropy Initiative during the spring semesters of 2010, 2011 and 2012. In total, participating students have awarded more than $31,000 to regional nonprofit organizations through this initiative and performed more than 3,000 hours of community service. Each student enrolled in Pay It Forward courses is required to perform 15 hours of community service.
SOURCE: YSU News Center.
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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