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Community Corner

BROOKLINE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION SEEKS TEEN GRANTMAKERS

The Brookline Community Foundation is currently recruiting high school students who live or go to school in Brookline to participate in the 2014 Brookline Teen Grantmakers Program. The application deadline is December 2, 2013. The Brookline Teen Grantmakers is a program run by the Brookline Community Foundation to teach local teenagers about philanthropy and the fundamentals of grantmaking.

Selected Teen Grantmakers will participate in weekly meetings from January to June to learn more about their community, explore their own values and work together to address problems in Brookline through strategic grantmaking. The program begins with an exploration of Brookline, including discussions with local community leaders about pressing issues in town. The teens will then collectively identify areas of concern and issue a request for proposals focused on that issue. The group will receive training in how to review proposals, read organizational budgets, and conduct site visits from BCF staff and other experts in the field.

Last year's Teen Grantmakers awarded $10,000 to four Brookline-area non-profit organizations focused on education and the environment. They received six grant proposals totaling $21,600 in requests and after reviewing applications and conducting site visits the group voted to fund: the Brookline Access Television's Bee Bear Book Club Program, the Brookline Early Education Program's Summer Sparks Program, Brookline Housing Authority's Next Steps Program, and The City School's Summer Leadership and Pathways to Change Programs. 

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"I learned about the needs in Brookline and what I can do to help. I liked the program because it was a chance to work with a diverse group of committed students," said 2013 Teen Grantmaker Benjamin Doughty, who participated during his senior year at Brookline High School.

Visit our website at http://www.brooklinecommunity.org/ or contact Jennifer Lemire, Associate Director of Programs and Grants, at jlemire@brookinecommunity.org or 617-566-4442 to learn more about the programs that were funded, to donate to the Brookline Teen Grantmakers Fund or to learn more about becoming involved with the 2014 Brookline Teen Grantmakers.

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The Brookline Community Foundation shines a spotlight on community needs, inspires philanthropy and awards strategic grants to build a more vibrant, engaged and equitable Brookline.

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