Youth Foundation Awards $8,000 in Grants

The Wayne County Community Youth Foundation (YF) was established in Fall 2012 to provide educational and practical experiences on how community foundations operate for the purpose of getting students engaged in local “structured” philanthropy. A YF Fund was also established for students to award grants to local nonprofit organizations who support youth programs.

YF evaluated seven grant opportunities from organizations who supply food and/or meals to students and 12 non-food grant opportunities from those that support youth/family enrichment activities. In its March meeting, each YF evaluation team presented their findings and recommendations from grant applications, interviews, and site visits. This was followed by a secret ballot and a decision to recommend a total of $8,000 to be granted among the top five recommended grantees.

The below recommended grants were approved and awarded by the WCCF Board.

• $2,000 to Orrville Area Boys & Girls Club for its Kid Café meals program.
• $2,000 to Viola Startzman Clinic for mobile healthcare equipment.
• $2,000 with a challenge of $2,000 to Wayne County Children’s Advocacy Center, Inc. for child sexual abuse prevention training.
• $1,500 to OneEighty, Inc. for its youth engagement program at Julia’s Place
• $500 to United Way of Wayne & Holmes Counties Inc. for “Reading Under the Lights” literacy program.

Earlier this year, this YF class also awarded $550 to the Boys and Girls Club of Wooster.

More information about the Youth Foundation can be found on the Wayne County Community Foundation website.

Submitted by Ferenc M. Relle, Jr., Youth Foundation Advisor
Published in Orrviews April 19, 2019