Students Award Grants to 5 Local Nonprofits Through Centre PACT

Centre County high school students this week awarded $8,414 in grants to five local nonprofit organizations to cap their yearlong participation in the Centre Foundation program Centre PACT (Philanthropic Actions Created by Teens).

The 13 students in the program kicked off the third year of the program in October by selecting a theme of  “Securing Physical and Emotional Safety for Community Wellness,” to guide decisions on how they would award grants in the spring. They also created applications, sent out requests for proposals, reviewed 20 applications and solicited donations throughout the year.

They began with a $2,253 pool from a designated endowment fund through Centre Foundation and then campaigned to raise $6,161 from 43 donors.

“It has been truly remarkable watching this group of young philanthropists grow during the course of the program,” Centre Foundation Executive Director Molly Kunkel said. “They remained committed to their mission and to making our community an even better place to live, learn and work.”

Students, parents, donors and nonprofit representatives gathered at Centre Foundation to present grant checks to the recipient organizations 

Centre PACT students Jasmine Cao and Jackie Feffer explained the program’s mission to the audience. It gives local high school students an opportunity to discuss issues, learn about potential solutions offered by nonprofits and fund programs they think will be most effective through a hands-on philanthropy experience that also helps students hone skills.

Checks were presented to five organizations:

– Students Woojin Lee and Sanjana Kuchipudi presented $1,924 to Kendra Gettig of Out of the Cold to help provide homeless guests with safe transportation to medical appointments and work.
 
– Saoirse Hopp, Grace Handler and Abby La Porta presented $1,924 to Susan Hawthorne and Donna Gill of Central Pennsylvania Community Action for their Freedom Program, which will provide victims of domestic abuse and sexual assault with a variety of services, such as counseling, financial support, clothing, workforce training and nutrition.
 
– Bea Belmonte and Brontë Clingham-David presented $1,120 to Wes Chicko of AIDS Resource Alliance for its mental health counseling program, which will provide 35 hours of in-house mental health counseling to 12 clients.
 
– Claire Jin and Baron Cao presented $1,500 to Ginger Cain and Jennifer Stahl of Housing Transitions for its Life Skills Training Program, which provides group outreach support to shelter residents in an effort to help them achieve a more independent lifestyle.
 
– Jackie Saleeby and Bella DiNallo presented $1,946 to the Center for Alternatives in Community Justice for its Youth Aid Panel, which allows juvenile first-time offenders to have charges dropped and court fines lessened in exchange for their completion of alternative service projects.

State College Area High School seniors Bea Belmonte and Brontë Clingham-David were recognized with perfect attendance awards. Graduating high school seniors were also recognized, including Belmonte (DePaul University), Clingham-David (Sarah Lawrence College), Bella DiNallo (Penn State University), Jackie Feffer (Harvard University), Grace Handler (Boston University), and Jackie Saleeby (University of Pittsburgh). Each is a senior at State High.

Hope Bodenschatz, who was a member of the first Centre PACT class, is now the Centre PACT program coordinator and a sophomore at Penn State.

Centre County high school students can apply to join the Centre PACT Class of 2018-19 during fall recruitment, which will open in August. For more information, please visit Centre-Foundation.org or call (814) 237-6229.