New Catalogue nonprofit, Reach Incorporated is in the business of developing readers and leaders by training teens to teach. In this guest blog post, Executive Director Mark Hecker discusses their new program, Teens Give Back, and how it not only helped to build on the progress their tutors made throughout the school year, but helped out a few other local nonprofits as well.
Emerging Philanthropists: When Teens Give Back
By Mark Hecker, Executive Director, Reach Incorporated
This summer, Reach Incorporated launched a brand new summer program. This new effort, aimed at building on the progress our tutors make during school year programming, focused on four components, including intensive reading practice, college & career investigations, and .
On July 31st, we gathered for the final exercise in the fourth component of our summer program, Teens Give Back. At the beginning of the summer, we informed our cohort of adolescents from Eastern Senior High School and Perry Street Prep PCS that they would be responsible for giving away $2,500.
For a number of weeks, our teens identified community challenges, learned about organizations addressing those challenges, and generated a list of potential grant recipients. Through ongoing research and serious conversations, our young people selected four finalists: Homeless Children’s Playtime Project (HCPP), DC Central Kitchen, Martha’s Table, and Free Minds Book Club. These decisions were made based a number of factors, including the issue addressed, the size of the organization, and the impact made.
Selecting finalists, however, was just the beginning. Our tutors were split into four teams–one for each finalist organization–and asked to write and produce pitches. These pitches, limited to 90 seconds, sought audience support at the event on July 31st. The audience votes determined the size of the grant received by each of the organizations.
From the beginning, we could tell that our young people were well prepared. The team representing HCPP didn’t even stumble as they educated and engaged the audience. During DC Central Kitchen team’s presentation, Sasha leveraged the story found on the water bottles on each table (DC Central Kitchen had catered the event). The Martha’s Table team focused on size of impact, while the Free Minds team–led by Zorita, who bravely conquered serious stage fright!–took a more personal approach. In the end, those at the event had a tough decision to make!
While the votes were counted, we had the opportunity to publicly recognize Kyare, a rising 11th grade student at Eastern Senior High. Based on his performance both in and after school, Kyare earned a promotion to Junior Staff status–the highest honor given to Reach Incorporated tutors. Kyare is just the second person to ever receive this promotion!
Smiles filled the room as we celebrated Kyare’s accomplishment, but it was time to announce our winners. Without doubt, each group wanted to win, but only one could take home the top prize. First, we announced our honorable mentions–both DC Central Kitchen and Martha’s Table received $250 grants from our kids.
The teens moved to the edge of their seats as we announced that the Homeless Children’s Playtime Project was our runner up. HCPP was thrilled to learn that they would receive a $750 grant from our young people. That left only our winners–Rashaan, Zorita, Za’Metria, and Kyare–who were thrilled to learn that they had earned a $1,250 grant for Free Minds Book Club. Free Minds staff members gathered around to get pictures taken with their adolescent advocates.
As audience members filed out of the room, our teens accepted handshakes from inspired attendees. The teens’ preparation showed in their performance. While any competition leaves some with hurt feelings, our young people were uniformly proud of the work they had done. They had, without question, learned the value of giving back. With the audience’s help, we had given birth to a group of future philanthropists.
The Homeless Children's Playtime Project team doing research
The Free Minds Book Club and Writing Workshop team as they pitch the room
Kyare celebrating his promotion
If you’re interested in learning more about what happens when you give teens real responsibility for real outcomes, visit us at www.reachincorporated.org.