FCF is pleased to have started the first Youth In Philanthropy Program (YIP) in Atlantic Canada. The program involves forming a Youth Advisory Committee (YAC) to the FCF Board of Directors who have the job of making grants in support of charitable work in the communities of Charlotte County. The YAC members call themselves TIP (Teens In Philanthropy) and they include:

• Mike Arsenault, St. Stephen High School
• Catrina Haun, Sir James Dunn Academy
• Casey Lindsay, St. Stephen High School
• David Raye, St. Stephen Middle School
• Shawn Seeley, St. Stephen Middle School
• Cayleih Robertson, St. Stephen High School
• Katie Logan, Sir James Dunn Academy

Background:

In the Fall of  2001, FCF put out a letter to all middle and high schools in Charlotte County inviting school principals to appoint students to join a Youth Advisory Committee which would be responsible for making grants from moneys provided by the Foundation in support of various charitable causes in Charlotte County. 

Alan Dunfield, principal of the St. Stephen Middle School agreed to recommend six students for the job. 

Andreas Haun, manager of Kingsbrae Gardens agreed to be a volunteer adult advisor who would guide the students through the process of learning about grantmaking and making recommendations for funding. Leslie Cuthbertson, Executive Director of FCF, provided background information and support to assist in the process. 

The six students, in grades 6,7 and 8 were given the task of allocating $2,500 in funds ($2,000 from FCF, $250 from the St. Stephem Middle School and $250 from A. Haun) to the communities of Charlotte County. Their were told that they had to fund projects that were "charitable" in nature, and they could only fund organizations with charitable status, or who were associated with what are "Qualified Donees" under the Canada Customs and Revenue Act (schools, municipalities). They could not make grants to individuals. One other stipulation was that they had to work on a concensus decision making model. This means they had to actually listen to eachother and come to an agreement on what their recommendations would be. 

Grantmaking 2002:

The group deceided to review the grant applications that were already coming to FCF through its spring grant session. That spring the group funded 4 projects.

Pennfield Elementary School Encyclopedia Set, $1,029 The Pennfield Elementary School had a tiny library with the most recent resource material dating back to the 1980‰s.  Local parents and volunteers had donated books and installed new shelving and have worked to ‹spruce upŠ the library by painting murals and replacing old curtains. The FCF Youth Advisory Committee approved a grant to purchase a new encyclopedia set for the school. 

St. Andrews Skateboard Committee, Concrete Boxes, $841 The St. Andrews Skateboard Committee, consisting of youth from St. Andrews had developed a design for a concrete structure, which would provide an obstacle for skateboarders to do tricks on and have fun with at a safe location behind the community arena away from downtown traffic. The group had partially funding the project by holding a skate-a-thon, a car wash and Bar-B-Que, and a dance. This grant went toward the purchase of concrete for the project.

Learning Disabilities Association, St. Andrews, N.B., Purchase of Software, $130 The St. Andrews chapter of the Learning Disabilities Association provides much needed information and support to parents of children and adults with learning disabilities. The group had hosted three successful annual workshops on ‹Learning about Learning DisabilitiesŠ bringing in guest speakers to address critical issues related to learning disabilities and offering opportunities for participants to network and learn from eachothers experiences. The FCF Youth Advisory Committee awarded this grant in support of the organizations need to purchase software through the Microsoft Sharing program for charities to better enable the organization to produce its own information and promotional material.

Grantmaking 2003

The following year, (2003) one new member was recruited and the group gave away $5,000 in grants (including a $2,500 gift from the Tecolote Foundation). 

The following projects were funded: 

Born to Read Program, $500 The Born to Read Program promotes early childhood literacy by encouraging mothers to read to their children from birth. Each child born in New Brunswick receives a tote bag with beginner books as a gift to inspire mothers to start reading right away. 

The St. Stephen Shark Attack Parent Committee, $1,000 The St. Stephen Shark Attack Parent Committee received this grant to support the updrading of the St. Stephen Community Pool in preparation for the provincial swim meet which they intended to host that summer. 

The Grand Manan Community School Car Club, $1,000 The GMCS Car Club received funding to go toward the purchase of a second vehicle to be overhauled and made ready for next year‰s end of year races. ‹We had a video conference with the students as well as the man in charge. We agreed that we liked what we heard and it also fit our mandate very wellŠ.

The St. Croix Blades Speed Skating Club $1,000.  This goup received funding for the purchase of skates for their skate rental program. ‹This group has been extremely successful and it includes youth of all ages from many different placesŠ. 

The Deer Island Safety Net, $1,000 This food bank received funding for the purchase of food and other emergency supplies. ‹We felt that this was a good cause because with the war, people don‰t seem to be giving as much and the food banks are at a greater riskŠ. 

New Brunswick Youth Orchestra, $500. This grant was in support of three Charlotte County members who would be going with the NB Youth Orchestra to New York to perform at Carnegie Hall. The students reasoned that, while it was important to support youth at risk and ‹safety netŠ type projects, it was also important to support the strong individuals who work hard to excel. 

Youth In Philanthropy Endowment Fund

In the Fall of 2003, FCF hosted its 10th Anniversary Gala Celebration, a dinner and dance with The Thomists. This event was a sell-out event with 300 guests in attendance. The TIP members performed a skit - a spoof on the hit TV show "American Idol" They called it "A Community Idol" and managed to raise $1,625 in donations to open the first FCF Youth In Philanthropy Endowment Fund. This is an open fund, to which anyone may give any amount. Since then, more donations have come in and the fund has continued to grow ($2,500 by year-end, 2003). Once the fund reaches the minimum level of $5,000, income from the fund will be available for TIP members, now and in the future to make grants with to the communities of Charlotte County.