`Future Philanthropists’ Select 7 Nonprofits to Receive $25,000 in Grants

What happens when you empower a group of local high school students to award $25,000 in grants benefiting youth to local nonprofits?

The answer came on Wednesday, April 27, when the group, known as Future Philanthropists and working with the Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation, hosted its first annual award ceremony at Dominican University in River Forest.

Culminating a six-month review process, 15 students from Oak Park-River Forest High School, Fenwick High School and Trinity High School unveiled their choices of seven agencies to receive between $1,900 and $5,000.

Evaluating 16 potential recipients, the Future Philanthropists selected the Oak Park Education Foundation, Sarah’s Inn, Parenthesis Parent-Child Center, Wonder Works Children’s Museum, Hephzibah Children’s Association, J. Kyle Braid Leadership Foundation and the Oak Park-River Forest Food Pantry.

All of the students have made a two-year commitment to the Future Philanthropists Program.

 “I think it’s important to teach the youth about giving back and how they can do it personally within a community,” said Boyd McDowell, immediate past president of the OPRF Community Foundation. “The Future Philanthropists Program provides good exposure to agencies that provide to those in need.”

Starting in November, the students met monthly at the Community Foundation office, first reading applications from 16 organizations, later visiting many of those nonprofits, narrowing the field to seven recipients and finally debating how much money to allocate each.

“We looked for practicality in each organization and that it fell under the mission of helping the youth,” said Nina Rossiello, a junior at OPRF. “We made sure each organization was solid and well-planned, and looked as if it would maintain its success into the future.”

The students received advice from various philanthropists like Jay Christopher, co-founder of the Christopher Family Foundation. Five mentors also helped guide the students throughout their decision-making process.

“Now more than ever it is important to practice good judgment on where to award grant money,” said Christopher, who was also the keynote speaker at the award ceremony. “People, not money, make a difference to an organization. I have not seen a good idea work with bad leaders. But I have seen a bad idea work with excellent leaders.”

Molly Philosophos, Hephzibah’s director of development, said Hephzibah’s grant money will go toward its Rodeo celebration at the end of the school year to help pay for a moon bounce, dunk tank, and prizes for the event.

“We had two gentlemen who came to our site with the Future Philanthropists,” Philosophos said. “They awarded us the money because they said that if at the end of the day, the kids say they had fun, then it was all worth it.”

The OPRF Community Foundation designed the Future Philanthropist Program as a unique way to engage young people and to provide an opportunity to develop and reinforce philanthropic behaviors. The Program is funded through the Communityworks Endowment Fund.

Through September 30, 2011, Communityworks has the opportunity to raise $2 million to add to the endowment that will be matched dollar-for-dollar by the Grand Victoria Foundation. So far, nearly $1.2 million has been raised.

“I only hope the grants we award do as much good for the community as this program has done for us,” said Joe Cederoth, a Fenwick junior who is among the Future Philanthropists.

In addition to Rossiello and Cederoth, the Future Philanthropists are Kathryn Oldach, Anne Weinheimer, Danielle Zarbin and John Burns from OPRF; Andrew Tonino, Ian McCullough, Eli Stirling and Jack Gallo from Fenwick; and Sarah Hasley, Maggie Sullivan, Kathleen Planek, Mary Rauh and Molly Kunkel from Trinity High School.

To learn more about Communityworks or to donate to the endowment fund, visit www.oprfcf.org.