NORWICH – Local non-profit organizations hoping to secure a portion of the $10,000 Norwich High School’s Youth Philanthropy Council will be awarding this year will have a few extra days to put the finishing touches on their grant applications.
“We’ve extended our deadline to Tuesday, February 16,” explained Susan Fertig, who serves as the student organization’s advisor. The original deadline required all applications be filed by this Friday.
Now in its second year, the program is a collaboration between Norwich High School, the Upstate Institute at Colgate University, Chenango United Way and The Community Foundation for South Central New York.
This year the Youth Philanthropy council has been limited to 10 participants, all upperclassmen. In order to be selected to participate, students had to first complete a rigorous application process, which were reviewed by a selection committee before a final selection was made.
Junior Katie Orioli is one of six new student participants on the Youth Philanthropy Council. She said she was prompted to apply for the program because of “all the work (the group) does that involves the community.”
During the first half of the school year, Orioli and the other participants learned about non-profit organizations, philanthropy and the needs of the community through a series of seminars. These after-school meetings guest speakers from Colgate University, The Community Foundation and United Way.
The group also volunteered during United Way’s Day of Caring, an experience which Senior Nathan Biviano said taught them that it wasn’t just money that these organizations need.
Biviano said he chose to get involved with the philanthropic program because with his busy schedule, he struggled to find “time to give back to the community” on his own. Participating in the council has allowed him to contribute to worthy causes without compromising his academics or other involvements during his senior year.
Now, during the second semester the Youth Philanthropy Council is acting as a working foundation. The group received $5,000 from both the United Way and The Community Foundation, and has $10,000 to distribute to worthy programs serving the Chenango County’s population.
“Last year was a really great experience in which the students distributed moneys to very needy and worthwhile community non-profits,” said Superintendent Gerard O’Sullivan, who is a strong proponent of the philanthropic program.
The programs which received grants in the first round of funding were the Parents as Teachers program at Catholic Charities of Chenango County; the Parents as Leaders program at the Mothers and Babies Perinatal Network; and The Place’s New York State Experience program.
According to Senior Andrew Austin, who is in his second year with the program, the three organizations which were awarded funding submitted the best proposals out of the dozen or so received.
“Their plans fit our mission statement,” Austin explained, which last year was focused on youth in the community.
This year, the group’s mission has a different focus, that of supporting programs which specifically look to help people break the poverty cycle by preparing families to sustain themselves in the future.
“They did not come to the decision lightly,” reported the program advisor. According to Fertig, the students spent time discussing the area’s needs and where they felt the money should go in order to help people.
They found inspiration, she said, in an old proverb: “If you give a man a fish, he eats for a day. If you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.”
The superintendent is in full support of what the group is hoping to accomplish with this year’s round of funding.
“Students are focusing on helping community members create strong futures,” O’Sullivan said. “They are committed to working towards solutions that will leave a lasting impact on our community.”
The students drafted the Request for Proposal (RFP) which went out to local non-profits in January, but have not had as strong a response as they had last year.
For Fertig, this has come as a surprise.
“I can’t believe in this economy that people don’t need the money,” she said.
In an effort to increase the number of proposals, the Youth Philanthropy Council has decided to both extend the deadline for applications as well as reach out to local organizations who have not yet applied. Students began making phone calls to some of those groups after school on Tuesday.
Applications can be submitted electronically to norwichypc@gmail.com. For information on eligibility or to obtain an application, visit www.norwichypc.tk or www.chenangouw.org. For questions about the application process, contact Elizabeth Monaco at the Chenango United Way by phone at 334-8815 or via email at cuwemonaco@frontiernet.net.