Youth Grantmaking Council Raises Almost $4,700

The Scott County Youth Grantmaking Council, a program of the Scott County Community Foundation, raised almost $4,700 for a matching grant opportunity through the Youth Philanthropy Initiative of Indiana.

The goal of the grant, which was generously provided by the Paul Ogle Foundation, was for local communities to increase their youth philanthropy endowment funds. Scott County, along with six other Southern Indiana counties, had the opportunity for all donations to be matched dollar for dollar through Dec. 15, 2008.

“We congratulate the Scott County Youth Grantmaking Council on their successful efforts to raise matching funds for their youth philanthropy endowment,” said Eileen Ryan, Program Director for the Youth Philanthropy Initiative of Indiana. “Growing new generations of philanthropists is a benefit to society as a whole and to the development of young people as they learn to give and serve, build leadership skills and become civically engaged in their local community.”

The money earned by the youth and community will be used for youth projects and to add to the Scott County Youth Grantmaking Council Fund. The Council awarded almost $4,500 in grants this past spring to youth-related projects in the community. They also collect donations each month for charitable organizations.

The Council is comprised of students from throughout the county: Patricia Bacala, Carmen Boley, Brandon Boswell, Lindsey Boswell, Evan Comer, Rachael Dixon, Kayla Griffen, Lauren Howser, Kevin Jentzen, Erin Lapp, Kaleb Mount, Joey Payne, Caity Rice, Jordan Shuler, Braxton Soloe, Hunter Steinkamp, Keeli Stewart, Jerel Taylor, Luke Taylor and Isaiah Turner. The group is facilitated by adult leaders Brandon Polley and Jaime Toppe.

The students have worked hard since last December, raising dollars through solicitations from individuals, companies and foundations, personal donations, lollipop fundraiser, raffle and sno-cone sales at the Back to School Bash, bake sale, candy bar fundraiser, Hat Day fundraiser, Christmas stocking stuffer fundraiser, and earnings from Goodsearch.com.

“I’m really excited that the council was able to come together and work this hard to get as much money as we did in as short a time period as we had,” said President Evan Comer. “It goes to show how well we work together as a group.”