Community Foundation of Howard County Starts Youth Program

COLUMBIA, MD — The Community Foundation of Howard County has established the Youth in Philanthropy program, which is designed to give high school students a firsthand look at how nonprofits help others.

"Student members of the YIP committee will actively engage with community nonprofits and learn firsthand about the wide range of issues facing Howard County residents, including homelessness, hunger, domestic violence and the educational and legal needs of struggling families,” said Jeffrey Boutwell, a foundation volunteer and donor who established the program, in a press release.

The Community Foundation of Howard County will solicit applications from students to join the committee of 10 to 15 high school sophomores and juniors who will begin meeting in 2020. The program will request grant proposals, and the students will evaluate them based on need and effectiveness and award $10,000 in grants ranging in size from $500 to $5,000.

“Student committee members take direct responsibility and oversight for soliciting and evaluating grant proposals,” Boutwell said in the release. “They will have to make the hard decisions on who to fund. That’s the most difficult part of the job, deciding who gets funded and who doesn’t, so it’s a great learning experience for the students.”

Each student on the Youth in Philanthropy committee will partner with one of the community organizations seeking a grant, meet with representatives, witness operations and learn more about the organization and the needs it addresses.

“Youth in Philanthropy students learn more about the community they live in, work with their peers throughout the grant cycle process and become exposed to the value and traditions of philanthropy long before they themselves are able to become philanthropists,” Boutwell said.