Youth Philanthropy Alive And Well At SLHS

Jun 05, 2013

Grade ten students at Sharbot Lake High School had a chance to learn about and benefit a local charity through a program called the Youth Philanthropy Initiative program. The program invites students to learn about local charities in their area by having them chose and research one and then make their case to a number of judges as to why their chosen charity should be awarded a $5,000 cheque. The $5,000 is funded through the Toskan Casale Foundation of Toronto, which was started by Toronto philanthropist Julie Toskan Casale who began it as a means of inspiring young people to become aware of and involved in charitable organizations in their communities.

The program runs at numerous schools in the Limestone District School Board and has become a regular part of SLHS teacher Randy McVety's grade 10 civics class. “I made the program a regular part of the curriculum with the hopes that by becoming aware of the many local charitable organizations through their own research and work, the students might be inspired and become involved with them later in life”, McVety said when I spoke to him earlier this week.

A total of nine projects were completed by SLHS students and in January those nine were judged by five senior students. Three were shortlisted to be finalists. Those finalists made a second presentation on June 3 to a different panel of judges that included School Principal Heather Highet and LDSB trustee Ann Goodfellow, along with six senior students. The winners were announced on June 3 and the group representing Breast Cancer Action Kingston, a local area charity that receives no funding from any of the larger cancer organizations or societies, and who provides family and educational services to people diagnosed with breast cancer, were the recipients of the $5,000 gift. Congratulations to Breast Cancer Action Kingston and to SLHS students Kayley Gregory, Tori Neuman, Chifonne Hugh and Joelle Parr. The student group phoned the charity the day of the presentation, and according to Randy McVety the representatives at Breast Cancer Action Kingston were absolutely elated to find out that they were the recipients of the $5,000 gift.