Members of the Davie County SURF Board attended a Youth Philanthropy Summit in Winston-Salem on November 15th, and brought home a trophy!
The SURF Board was awarded the first ever Community Site of the Year for their work in the community to benefit the youth of Davie County, and their successful Popsicle 5K. Last year the SURF Board received three requests, and awarded two grants totaling $2,610. They hope to receive at least ten request and award even more in 2015.
Members who attended were: Hampton Smith, Allison Staley, Brant Dupree, Grace Nixon, Chris Carr, Ben Marklin, and Ben Carter.
With a fast-paced blend of a carnival, night club and leadership conference, the 2014 North Carolina Youth Giving Summit provided training for young philanthropists Saturday in downtown Winston-Salem.
A group of 150 high-school students and their adult advisors attended the event at the Marriott on North Cherry Street.
The event kicked off with students introducing themselves, loud music, multi-media screens and a variety of activities that included summit-attendees joining hands and doing the wave — normal speed, slow and fast.
“It’s not about us anymore, is it?” Eric Rowles, the president and chief executive of Leading To Change Inc., a training company, asked the students.
“No,” said the students.
“It’s about somebody back home,” Rowles said. “It’s about somebody back in your community. You are learning how to give. You are learning how to pay it forward.”
Leading To Change, based in Charlotte, operates the N.C. Youth Giving Network, which puts on the summit. Formed in 2005, the network is made up of 25 different youth philanthropy sites from throughout North Carolina. Seven groups attended the summit on Saturday — Davie County SURF, Forsyth County YGA, Guilford County TGC, Jackson County YLC, Onslow County HARMONY, Wake County HYPE, and Wilkes County T3LC.
The summit is designed to prepare students for how and where they will grant more than $150,000 overall to help their communities. Philanthropic organizations across the state donate funds that they entrust to the students for allocation. Each community group has its own annual timeline for distributing money, which could range from $1,000 to more than $10,000.
“Rowles said that summit’s “The Hands of Giving” theme is “the idea that you can’t just talk about doing change in your community. You actually have to get your hands into it.”
Early on at the summit, students flocked to the wax hands booth to have their own “giving hands” immortalized in wax.
Students also had the opportunity to participate in various workshops to learn more about working successfully together as a group in their community. A new aspect of this year’s Summit, was an opportunity for hands in service with a local partner. The Davie students partnered with The Children’s Museum of Winston-Salem, and helped prepare a new winter exhibit that will open Thanksgiving weekend.
