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Jumpstart Our Youth (J.O.Y.) – Year Two!

Jobs for Maine’s Graduates has collaborated with the Unity Foundation, the Maine Community Foundation, and Unitel Corporation to give Maine students a jumpstart on giving!

For the second year in a row, thanks to the generosity of the Unity Foundation, JMG programs all across Maine are being given $1,000 each to donate to a worthy, local non-profit organization that serves youth. Students will spend several months during the school reviewing grant proposals, interviewing nonprofit applicants and finally making the difficult decision about who gets the money. Last year, JMG students contributed more than 11,000 hours of community service and awarded more than $50,000 to their local communities. This year we hope to step up both the giving of time and money.

The goal of the Jumpstart Our Youth program (JOY) is to teach the students about the critical roles that nonprofits play in meeting overwhelming community needs. To drive home the fact that community service includes hands-on work as well as thoughtful grant making and stewardship. And, students also learn about critical evaluation, collaboration, finance and operational skills as they determine how to award their grants.

Read more about JOY in this article by the Maine Community Foundation.

For more information about the JOY program, visit the Jumpstart Our Youth website.

JOY in the news:

South Portland High School Students award grants (pdf), Cape Elizabeth Sentry – May 29, 2009

They Learn By Giving: Jumpstart Our Youth program gives students chance to aid comminities (pdf), by Larry Sterrs, Sunday Sentinel – April 5, 2009

Youth experience JOY of Philanthropy (pdf), by Lyn Rowden, Town Line Newspaper – March 26, 2009