July 8, 2008

Youth Philanthropy Committee Attends Youth Grantmaking Conference

(HAMILTON, Ohio)--- “I am One … I cannot do everything, but I can do something” was the theme for this year’s Youth Grantmakers Summer Conference in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The Hamilton Community Foundation’s Youth Philanthropy Committee (YPC) members, Derrick Ward and Lea Browning are two of 18 of the area high school students who attended the conference June 27-29th.

Through a grant from the Kellogg Foundation, these students, Foundation staff and youth advisors were able to attend the 2008 Youth Grantmakers Summer Youth Leadership Conference, sponsored by the Council of Michigan Foundations. The conference enabled the students to interact with and learn from more than 200 other youth advisory council members from seven states.

“By attending the summer conference, it gave us opportunity to meet youth grantmakers from other states and get great ideas that we can bring to our community. Also, the team building activities that we learned will be very helpful to us as a committee, not just for Derrick and me,” said Lea Browning.

The Youth Philanthropy Committee was established in 2005 by the Board of Trustees of the Hamilton Community Foundation as a way to teach area youth the importance of philanthropy. Its primary goals are to teach young people about giving of their time to the community, fund development for important projects and how to distribute funds to create the greatest impact in the community. The group is comprised of 20 high school students from Badin, Hamilton, New Miami and Ross high schools.

The Hamilton Community Foundation is a public charity committed to improving the quality of life for the greater Hamilton, Ohio community and its residents. Founded in 1951 with one $5,000 fund, the Foundation now manages charitable assets exceeding $80 million and holds more than 470 charitable funds. It is the tenth-largest community foundation in the state of Ohio.

“By attending the summer conference, it gave us opportunity to meet youth grantmakers from other states and get great ideas that we can bring to our community."