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Community Spirit Youth Giving Challenge Awards $10,000 in Grants Across Region

January 7, 2021 By admin

Now in Fourth Year, Program Sees Record 144 Entries from Middle School Students in Three Counties

     WATERTOWN — The Northern New York Community Foundation announces $10,000 in Community Spirit Youth Giving Challenge grants to 20 nonprofit organizations that serve Jefferson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence counties.

     Now in its fourth year, the Community Spirit Youth Giving Challenge is open to all tri-county middle school students. This year’s program committee received and reviewed 144 entries from seventh and eighth graders who recommended grants to 79 different organizations that serve residents across the three counties.

     Schools participating in the 2020-2021 challenge include: Jefferson County — Alexandria Central School, Carthage Central School, Case Middle School-Watertown City Schools, General Brown Central School, Immaculate Heart Central School, Sackets Harbor Central School, South Jefferson Central School, and Thousand Islands Middle School; Lewis County — Lowville Academy and Central School; St. Lawrence County — Canton Central School; Morristown Central School; and Ogdensburg Free Academy. Two Jefferson County home-schooled students also participated.

     The initiative was launched in 2017 to introduce middle school students to concepts of philanthropy and community needs. The challenge seeks to engage youths as they explore the meaning of community and are empowered to recommend grants to support their concepts that strengthen the quality of life in the region. Students write an essay that articulates their definition of community and explains what makes it a great place to live, work and play. Participants are then asked to name a charitable organization that makes their community a better place through its service to residents.

     “Instilling an interest in civic engagement and service is one of our core values. We believe that collectively we must do all that we can to perpetuate traditions of commitment to community,” said Rande Richardson, Community Foundation executive director. “Interest in this program continues to grow each year, and that is a good indication that we have future leaders eager to step forward by making service a priority in their lives. It also provides a great pathway to the Foundation’s Youth Philanthropy Council.”     

     In the past four years, 83 students have been selected to present 79 grants totaling $40,000 to 67 different nonprofit organizations that serve tri-county residents. Since the Community Spirit Youth Giving Challenge began, 397 students representing 21 school districts across the region have applied to the program, recommending grants to 160 different charitable organizations.

     Consistent themes of community that most often appeared in essays were: “caring for one another,” “working together to help others,” “safe and supportive people,” “encouraging,” “teamwork,” and “shared values.”

     Charitable organizations students selected for funding range from those that provide support for essential human needs and animal welfare to those that strengthen and enrich our communities through education, arts and culture, scouting, child care, health and wellness, and recreation.

     Gifts to the Friends of the Foundation Annual Community Betterment Fund, as well as corporate support from Community Bank and a major gift from an anonymous individual donor, help to underwrite program grants. A committee that included Community Foundation staff and a retired junior high school teacher judged and scored the applications with results as follows:

Jefferson County

  • $500, Disabled Persons Action Organization, Watertown, Caleb Hale, Case Middle School, Watertown
  • $500, Roswell P. Flower Memorial Library, Watertown, Riley Burns, Case Middle School, Watertown
  • $500, Girl Scouts of NYPENN Pathways, Watertown, Destiny Gist, General Brown Central School
  • $500, Hawn Memorial Library, Clayton, Anna Huizenga, Thousand Islands Middle School
  • $500, Hearts For Youth, Alexandria Bay, River Costello, Alexandria Central School
  • $500, Hospice of Jefferson County, Watertown, Koel Everard, Carthage Central School
  • $500, JRC Foundation, Watertown, Luke Charlton, Case Middle School, Watertown
  • $500, Neighbors of Watertown, Michael Lumbis, Case Middle School, Watertown
  • $500, North Country Family Health Center, Toryann McKinney, Case Middle School, Watertown
  • $500, Power Play Sports Foundation, Watertown, Trey Ledoux, Immaculate Heart Central School
  • $500, River Hospital, Alexandria Bay, Londynn Lawhon, Thousand Islands Middle School
  • $500, South Jeff Backpack Program, Adams, Alexsandra Blevins, South Jefferson Central School
  • $500, Stage Notes, Watertown, Delaney Anderson, Carthage Central School
  • $500, Watertown Urban Mission, Grayson Feisthamel, Case Middle School, Watertown
  • $500, SPCA of Jefferson County, Watertown, Jack Adams, Case Middle School, Watertown

Lewis County

  • $500, Hand-in-Hand Early Childhood Center, Lowville, Lillian Exford, Lowville Academy & Central School
  • $500, Salvation Army Watertown Corps, Chase Nakano, Lowville Academy and Central School

St. Lawrence County

  • $500, Canton-Potsdam Hospital Foundation, Canton, Olivia White, Canton Central School
  • $500, Help Sami Kick Cancer Foundation, Canton, Vivian Coburn, Canton Central School
  • $500, Renewal House for Victims of Family Violence, Jazmine Carpenter, Morristown Central School

     As public health guidelines safely permit, the Community Foundation and schools will work with winning students in the coming weeks to coordinate visits to their respective charitable agencies to present grants and learn more about the organizations they chose.

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.

Filed Under: Recent News

Northern New York Community Foundation

131 Washington Street
Watertown, NY 13601

Phone: 315-782-7110
Fax: 315-782-0047

info@nnycf.org

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Northern New York Community Foundation

Northern New York Community Foundation

3,258

Working with donors to benefit the community through grants and scholarships since 1929.

DEADLINE FAST APPROACHING: Apply by this Friday, Feb. 10!

This is a great opportunity to join a terrific team and make a lasting difference in your community!

Complete details: www.nnycf.org/about/employment

#NNYCF #Team #Hiring #Community

DEADLINE FAST APPROACHING: Apply by this Friday, Feb. 10!

This is a great opportunity to join a terrific team and make a lasting difference in your community!

Complete details: www.nnycf.org/about/employment

#NNYCF #team #hiring #community
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Meet Cullen Miller, an eighth grader at Lowville Academy and Central School.

For Cullen, community is “a place where people motivate and support each other to make better decisions.”

“What I love about my community is all the people. Good people make a good community. It’s a great place to live because the community is grateful, respectful, and helpful to each other,” Cullen wrote in his winning essay. 

As a Northern New York Community Foundation Community Spirit Youth Giving Challenge winner, Cullen had a chance to present a grant to the Lewis County Agricultural Society, an organization he chose for its work to build community. 

“The Agricultural Society brings people together to show their love for the community and animals,” Cullen wrote. 

Cullen met with Lewis County Fair Manager Rachel Lisk last fall and presented a $500 Youth Giving Challenge grant that will help the Agricultural Society continue its work and mission. The grant is supported by donors to the Friends of the Foundation Annual Community Betterment Fund, a partnership with Community Bank, N.A., and a leadership gift from an anonymous donor. 

Pictured, from left, Fair Manager Rachel Lisk; Lowville Academy and Central Schools Middle School student and Youth Giving Challenge winner Cullen Miller; and Community Bank Lowville Branch Manager and Vice President Tammie Lambert.

Cullen is one of dozens of thoughtful youths who looked inside his community to recognize an organization that works to improve quality of life in the region. The 2021-2022 Giving Challenge asked students from Jefferson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence counties to explain in an essay what community means to them and to choose a nonprofit that embodies their definition of community. Cullen’s essay is one of 20 chosen from 193 submissions.

Look for more photos and stories behind the Community Spirit Youth Giving Challenge in the coming weeks.

#NNYCF #ThoughtfulGiving #YouthGivingChallenge #CommunitySpirit

Meet Cullen Miller, an eighth grader at Lowville Academy and Central School.

For Cullen, community is “a place where people motivate and support each other to make better decisions.”

“What I love about my community is all the people. Good people make a good community. It’s a great place to live because the community is grateful, respectful, and helpful to each other,” Cullen wrote in his winning essay.

As a Northern New York Community Foundation Community Spirit Youth Giving Challenge winner, Cullen had a chance to present a grant to the Lewis County Agricultural Society, an organization he chose for its work to build community.

“The Agricultural Society brings people together to show their love for the community and animals,” Cullen wrote.

Cullen met with Lewis County Fair Manager Rachel Lisk last fall and presented a $500 Youth Giving Challenge grant that will help the Agricultural Society continue its work and mission. The grant is supported by donors to the Friends of the Foundation Annual Community Betterment Fund, a partnership with Community Bank, N.A., and a leadership gift from an anonymous donor.

Pictured, from left, Fair Manager Rachel Lisk; Lowville Academy and Central Schools Middle School student and Youth Giving Challenge winner Cullen Miller; and Community Bank Lowville Branch Manager and Vice President Tammie Lambert.

Cullen is one of dozens of thoughtful youths who looked inside his community to recognize an organization that works to improve quality of life in the region. The 2021-2022 Giving Challenge asked students from Jefferson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence counties to explain in an essay what community means to them and to choose a nonprofit that embodies their definition of community. Cullen’s essay is one of 20 chosen from 193 submissions.

Look for more photos and stories behind the Community Spirit Youth Giving Challenge in the coming weeks.

#NNYCF #ThoughtfulGiving #YouthGivingChallenge #CommunitySpirit
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We are proud to partner with The Orchestra of Northern New York to present “Winter Serenade” this Saturday, Feb. 4, at 7:30 p.m. at St. Marys Church in Canton and Sunday, Feb. 5, at 3 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church in Watertown.

Dont miss this chance to see a wonderful live orchestral music event. The Community Foundation, with the support of its loyal donors, is a major underwriter of the entire ONNY season. Hope to see you there!

#Winterlude #WinterConcert #LiveMusic #ONNY #NNYCF

We are proud to partner with The Orchestra of Northern New York to present “Winter Serenade” this Saturday, Feb. 4, at 7:30 p.m. at St. Mary's Church in Canton and Sunday, Feb. 5, at 3 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church in Watertown.

Don't miss this chance to see a wonderful live orchestral music event. The Community Foundation, with the support of its loyal donors, is a major underwriter of the entire ONNY season. Hope to see you there!

#Winterlude #WinterConcert #LiveMusic #ONNY #NNYCF
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