Underwriting support from:
YGC Advisor Cris Kooyer, and YGC Co-Chairs Kierstdea Furey and Grace Feenstra.
R.J. Ferrell-Tillman presents a check to Kyle Van Strien from The Other Way Ministries.
May 27, 2010 --The Youth Grant Committee (YGC) of Grand Rapids Community Foundation recently made $49,975 in grants to the following organizations for programs benefitting young people in Kent County. YGC is comprised of public, private and home-schooled high school students from the Grand Rapids area. During the school year, members meet and assess youth issues, develop a request for proposals process to address those needs and conduct interviews and/or site visits and present grant recommendations to the Foundation’s Board of Trustees.
Cannonsburg Challenged Ski Association--You Ski! I Ski! Bi-Ski! received $3,500 to help paraplegic/quadriplegic students to participate in winter sports.
Certification of the Incarceration--Helping At-Risk Teens (H.A.R.T) received $3,000 to provide teens with necessary skills to change a negative beginning to a positive future.
Child and Family Resource Council--Resources Against Violent Encounters (RAVE) received $3,000 to continue to build infrastructure and increase program capacity to provide relationship violence prevention programming to youth in Kent County.
Children's Assessment Center--KIDZ Have Rights Body-Safety Program received $5,000 to teach body safety and sexual-abuse prevention to children in Kent County, seeking to reduce the number of children who are victims of sexual abuse and increase the number of children who report abuse.
Eastown Community Association--Beyond the Corner received $3,000 to target at risk youth who live in an area of frequent crime and gang activity and to engaging them in healthy, positive activities to get them off of the streets and create a safer neighborhood.
Girls Choral Academy--Grandville Avenue Girls Choirs received $2,000 to support a choir program in urban southwest Grand Rapids for at risk and underserved girls.
Grand Rapids Public Schools--Academic Games Summer Program received $1,800 to establish a creative summer program to enrich the knowledge of middle and high school students in the areas of mathematics, set theory, language arts and history.
Hispanic Center of Western Michigan--8th Grade Gang Prevention Transition Project received $5,000 to lead interactive gang prevention workshops with 8th graders transitioning into high school assisting them in overcoming anxiety, resisting gang influences and helping them to achieve personal and academic success.
Holy Name of Jesus Parish--High School Youth Group received $500 to provide workshops for our teens on “real life” issues such as gang prevention, as well as social and recreational events aimed at fostering a sense of community and providing constructive activities for area teens.
Kent / Michigan State University Extension--Exploration Days Pre-College Summer Program received $1,575 to enable youth who participate in the Mizizi Maji Mentoring program of Baxter Community Center to attend a summer pre-college program.
Kids’ Food Basket--Kids Helping Kids received $3,000 to allow children receiving sack suppers from Kids' Food Basket to actively participate in the process, while fostering life skills with students from GRPS Upward Bound program who will facilitate the sessions.
Oakdale Neighbors--Read-it Book Club 2010 received $3,100 to improve recreational reading for youth 3rd grade through 12th grade.
Other Way Ministries--Youth Employment Service (Y.E.S.) received $2,500 to support the employment of 12 teens and one teen assistant supervisor for this coming summer, providing them with valuable work experience as well as life-skills training.
Rescue Youth--Rescue Youth 2010-2011 Program received $3,000 to operate a firefighter mentorship program for another year, expanding the program to 6th graders.
Specialized Language Development Center--Language Links received $5,000 to help at-risk 1st through 3rd grade students in Grand Rapids Public Schools with tutoring during the summer. These students are significantly below grade level in reading, writing and spelling.
United Methodist Community House--The Youth Connection Project received $5,000 to motivate low-income inner-city youths to explore the possibilities of higher education by providing them with the skills and resources to plan for their future.
Contact: Roberta F. King, Vice President, PR & Marketing
P: 616.454.1751 x119
E: [email protected]
The Rapidian, a program of the 501(c)3 nonprofit Community Media Center, relies on the community’s support to help cover the cost of training reporters and publishing content.
We need your help.
If each of our readers and content creators who values this community platform help support its creation and maintenance, The Rapidian can continue to educate and facilitate a conversation around issues for years to come.
Please support The Rapidian and make a contribution today.
Related Articles
Comments, like all content, are held to The Rapidian standards of civility and open identity as outlined in our Terms of Use and Values Statement. We reserve the right to remove any content that does not hold to these standards.