El Dorado youth award GABY grants

from El Dorado Community Foundation

Since November 2007, members of the El Dorado County Grants Advisory Board for Youth (GABY) have been learning about what philanthropy is and how the grant making process works. They issued requests for grant proposals, reviewed all of the proposals submitted, interviewed the applicants and then spent an entire day making funding decisions. They presented a written summary of the 11 grants requested, along with their recommendations for funding of nine requests totaling $12,584.

At the February board meeting of the El Dorado Community Foundation in Placerville, which oversees the El Dorado GABY, youth member Brittany Mills presented grant recommendations. The foundation’s board was extremely impressed and pleased with the thoroughness of the young GABY members, and wholeheartedly approved their recommendation to fund nine of the 11 applicants. Foundation board members John Black and Fran Ward commended the youth for paying such close attention to the feasibility of the requests when deciding amounts to fund and for their funding diversity.

On the evening of March 12, GABY members, their advisors and grantees, along with families and friends, gathered to hear short overviews from grant recipients and to congratulate everyone on a job well done. The grant recipients are:

Colleen Moore
Project: Garden for Upper Room

Lucas Feil
Project: Flagpole at Pleasant Valley Fire Department

Corey Harkins
Project: Solar Education Traveling Display

Brenna Jonak
Project: Buckle Up Signage for Teen Safety

Andrew Kassabian
Project: Every 15 Minutes – Town Hall Meeting

Jonathan Morgan
Project: Drinking Fountain for Skate Park

Dustin Pfeiffer
Project: Youth Resource Web site

Lauren Cockrell
Project: Organic Garden at Union Mine High School

Erica Saxton
Project: Japanese Cultural Club at Shenandoah High School

The El Dorado Community Foundation, working closely with Sierra Health Foundation, New Morning Youth and Family Services, Sacramento Region Community Foundation and the University of California Cooperative Extension to develop youth leadership and philanthropy through the GABY program, feels strongly that the El Dorado GABY program has more than met their expectations and hopes to continue the program in years to come.

When posed with the question, “What do you think you gained on a personal level from your experience on the Grants Advisory Board?,” Reid Edlund, a student at Marina Village Middle School, answered, “I think that I gained some really good decision making skills. It’s fun being around such good people, and I’m looking forward to the rest of the process!”

Each GABY member has been assigned to a grant recipient and will consult with them as needed in order to complete progress reporting and bring their respective projects to fruition.

Visit the El Dorado Community Foundation Web site for more information about El Dorado County GABY.