Nearly $90K Awarded To Teenage Philanthropists During Virtual Finals Event
Seven student-led charity programs earned more than $89,000 in funding thanks to their pitches made to a group of Philanthropist-Investors.
For the last four years Philanthropy Tank finalists made their presentations on a stage in front of hundreds of audience members. This year’s “Finals” event scheduled for the Kravis Center was canceled because of the coronavirus.
Last week the select group of teens finally received their opportunity to present their charity ideas virtually. Sunday afternoon Philanthropy Tank debuted the “recorded Live Finals Event program on its Facebook page and website (www.philanthropytank.org [philanthropytank.org]). A mentor was assigned to each charity and each program was eligible to be awarded up to $15,000 in funding. Video of program – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CG6_9zlKBzE [youtube.com]
This list of the programs includes what the program was awarded by the Philanthropist Investors.
- Girls Help Girls – Rithika Kacham 11th grade, Suncoast High School – Awarded $15,000
Girls Help Girls is a project that aims to help women in need receive proper hygiene products such as diva cups and pads by raising awareness about the lack of access women have to proper hygiene products.
- Hello Hygienics – Nishah Jaferi and Jonathan Beres 11th grade, Spanish River High School -Awarded $10,000
In Palm Beach County, the issue of homelessness is marked by limited access to basic needs such as dental care, skincare, feminine products, and more. Hello Hygienics strives to combat this barrier to proper sanitation by providing handy, on-the-go, wellness kits to prioritize health for the less fortunate.
- Idea Lab – Angel Rojas, Pierce Dono, and Oliver Charles-Pierre – 8th grade, St. Vincent Ferrer School – Awarded $13,500
These students aim to start an Idea lab in the library of the Glades based Hope Rural School based on the principles we have learned in Design Thinking class. Students will have a setup where they can gather tools and materials to create, invent, tinker, and fabricate as a community through hands-on design and construction.
- MoneyBuddies – Gabriel Sun and Brendan Detamore – 11th Grade, American Heritage – Awarded $14,500
MoneyBuddies is a program that intends to inspire the youth of Palm Beach County by providing them with fun, free lessons in basic principles of financial literacy and proper money management.
- Stand Up; Be Counted – Anajiah Graham and I’Yunni Phillips, 11th graders, Glades Central – Awarded $10,500
Concentrating in the Glades Area, the program’s goal is to increase the numbers of individuals who first complete and return the Census documents, thereby gaining seats in the House of Representatives when new electoral district boundaries are drawn.
- South Florida Tech for Seniors – Sam Friedman 10th grade, Suncoast High School – Awarded $15,000
This program will work to help local senior citizens with their technology needs while teaching them basic skills to be self-sufficient.
- Venture – Benjamin Gao – 11th grade, Dreyfoos School of The Arts – Awarded $10,500
Venture is a student-led initiative based out of Dreyfoos School of the Arts. The primary goal of this project is to spread work-readiness, entrepreneurship, and financial literacy skills to elementary and middle school students within Palm Beach County.
At the end of the program, Philanthropy Tank announced that the application process for the next class of student philanthropists in Palm Beach County is now open (click to apply).
This is Philanthropy Tank’s fifth year of supporting future ‘changemakers’. In that time, students have created and continue to run organizations supporting music/art education, women’s empowerment, underprivileged children, pediatric cancer patients and more. Following this recent event, Philanthropy Tank has awarded more than $500,000 in funding and provided hundreds of hours of mentorship for teens who have started nearly three dozen local charities.
Philanthropy Tank’s local success has led to its recently announced expansion to Baltimore, Maryland.