Teaching Philanthropy: The Importance of Sharing Leadership

By: Sarah Dynia, Allow Good Northwestern Chapter Member & Founder/President of Stuffed Love

In my freshman year at Northwestern University, I took a class called Learning Philanthropy. This class focused on the importance of philanthropic giving in a constructive way, ensuring that donations went as far as they could to make an impact on an issue you cared about. As a passionate supporter of youth engagement and leadership development, I was excited when one of my friends introduced me to Allow Good. The potential to empower local youth to create change in their community and promote service learning through this organization is exciting and gratifying, and I am so honored and proud to be part of this organization.

I want to empower young people to believe in their ability to create change through their unique talent and skills, just as I have been empowered to do. In eighth grade, I founded my own nonprofit project, Stuffed Love. Stuffed Love’s mission is to remind people that they are cared for and loved through hand-sewn stuffed pillows. We distribute thousands of these pillows to various groups, such as children with congenital heart defects, veterans, and the homeless. Being a leader for a nonprofit is an exciting and rewarding job. You get to see your passion and drive come to fruition and help people. As a young adult in nonprofit leadership, I am constantly asked how and why I manage Stuffed Love. Both adults and youth are curious on how I can handle being a young student and taking care of all the tasks related to keeping Stuffed Love going. From these interactions, I have noticed that youth are often assumed to be unable to make an impact. Volunteering, and especially leadership roles within volunteering, are usually reserved for the grown-ups. Many high school students do not engage in service beyond hour requirements needed to graduate or pass a class. Additionally, service leadership is a role typically constrained within a school-specific setting, and can be treated as a resume bullet point instead of a place to feel empowered and engaged. This highlights a critical gap in service knowledge in youth: their important role in service and philanthropic actions in their communities.

Modeling and facilitating service and leadership are my favorite parts of my role with Stuffed Love and Allow Good’s work. I have been able to present to students and work with them one-on-one to grow their own service projects. My message to these students is always focused on the tremendous impact that they can have on their communities. I want these students to know that their age does not prevent them from changing the world. My work with Allow Good also helps me to share this message through philanthropy. As an Allow Good facilitator, I want to break down the stereotype that philanthropy can only be done by rich old men. By teaching young adults how to be effective philanthropists, I believe we are setting these students up for a life of philanthropy and service where they know they can be agents of change.

Service and philanthropy are not age-exclusive. Through my work with Allow Good and Stuffed Love, I am able to influence the way that young people think about philanthropy. We need to motivate the youth of today to be activists for change. By teaching them the skills needed to be effective philanthropists, we are preparing students to take the things they see as needing to improve and fix them. I am so excited to get into a classroom and share my lessons on philanthropy with my students and teach them that they have the ability to change the world.

Achieving and Creating New Goals -- Lessons from GPS 2016

By: Grace
Grace participated in Allowance for Good's 2016 Global Philanthropy Summit in June. 

My overall experience with the Global Philanthropy Summit (GPS) was amazing! It was the first time that I had done anything with Allowance for Good. It was truly an eye opening experience that I will never forget. The amount of knowledge that I was able to obtain while attending GPS was unimaginable. The main focus was philanthropy. Before this Summit, I had never really thought about the meaning of philanthropy. To put it into my own words, I would define it as having a passion for mankind and giving back to the community. Philanthropy in no way means that you or someone else has to donate money. To be a philanthropist, I believe that you must feel some kind of internal reward and know that you have had a positive impact on a community.

One goal I had going into the Global Philanthropy Summit was to gain more knowledge on nonprofits and how they run/work. I currently volunteer at a museum in my hometown of Alpena, Michigan and even though I spend numerous hours there, I never thought about how they get the money to run multiple events throughout the year. To get an inside look at how they achieve this goal was my first priority when entering this program. I ended up achieving that goal when we met with Spark Ventures on the first day of GPS. Our presenter explained to us how they raised the money for the programs they run in other countries outside of the United States. I was inspired by Spark Ventures because it was a combination of my two passions: giving back and traveling.

One goal I had leaving the Global Philanthropy Summit was to think of new and innovative ways that I could give back to my community. That may be through school or just on my own time. Another goal I had was to keep in touch with presenters or representatives of the organizations or companies that we visited. At Groupon, one of the presenters, Parth, made it very clear that it was essential to stay in touch and make connections with people that you meet so that you can create future opportunities for yourself and your career. To achieve this goal, I made a LinkedIn and e-mailed multiple people that we met with during GPS. Since reaching out, I have gotten responses and feedback from all of them. You really have nothing to lose.

Overall, I couldn’t be more supportive of future students who decide to or have thought about being a part of Allowance for Good and the Global Philanthropy Summit. The vast amount of knowledge and connections you can make while attending GPS are never ending. It opens you up to a whole new world, and possible career field.

A Small Amount, A Big Impact

By: Blair

Blair is participating in Allowance for Good's Spring 2016 Emerging Leaders in Philanthropy class in the Elmhurst location.

I learned this week in our financial literacy lesson that the extra money we spend on eating out, buying toys, and living through our daily lives adds up to a lot of money. Money that goes a long way in other people’s lives across the world. I realized this week that most people who live comfortably in our world with little to no financial problems don’t know how much of an impact even a dollar can do. People all over the world live in so much poverty that even a dollar could help them get enough food for their family. If we as a society realize how much extra money we spend on items we don’t even need and instead donate them to these hungry and starving kids, the impact would probably be as big as having almost every kid in poverty go to bed every night with a full belly. I encourage every person in the world to stop and think about if you really need this pointless item you are about to buy, and the impact it would have on others if you donated the money to charity instead of buying the item.  

"I am a catalyst for good because...I will improve the basic education around the world" - Blair

ELP Elmhurst class brainstorming.

ELP Elmhurst class teacher  Jeanne leads discussion.

Making Everyone Feel Part of the Community

By: Matthew

Matthew Miller is an 8th grader at Sandburg Middle School. He is participating in Allowance for Good's Spring 2016 Emerging Leaders in Philanthropy class in the Elmhurst location.

I have volunteered at my local PADS shelter at my synagogue, Access Sports for 3 years, and a summer camp called Service Squad, which involved a different service project each day. I have also volunteered at Feed My Starving Children a number of times. 

ELP Elmhurst class led by Jeanne.

"I am a catalyst for good because... all children have a right to primary education." - Matt Miller

My passion is working/playing with children in our community that have disabilities. I feel it is somewhat our duty to make them feel like they are one of us. Access Sports (out of Elmhurst) gives these kids the opportunity to play, and the opportunity for those who want to help, to help. You can sign up for one sport over one season, and each week you choose a kid to work with. You start off by working on skills, and then at the end there is a game. I have done this for 3 years now, and I plan to do it for much longer. These kids love to play, and it makes them feel a part of the community. There is a kid in my grade with Down Syndrome, that some of my friends and I love to work with and play with. We would switch off in gym class to play with him, and the smile on his face makes all of our days. The feeling of making someone feel special or just happy can make you feel the same way. 

In the future, I plan on volunteering at a Special Ed class and helping out there for a while, and also help out as much as I can around my community. A cause that I support is that all the kids, with disabilities or not, should all feel like they are worth the same amount in their community.

Catalysts for Good: Raising Awareness

By: Madeleine

Maddie is a participant in Allowance for Good's Spring 2016 Emerging Leaders in Philanthropy class in the Evanston location.

Through our discussions on human rights and the sustainability development goals, I was able to learn more about how the UN and other governmental bodies approach human rights abuses around the world. The sustainable development goals, created by the UN, were surprisingly optimistic and confident. However, I believe that these aspirations, although they are a significant step towards preventing and ending human rights abuses, need to provide further comprehensive steps in order to complete the goals they outline. Although they provide various statistics and goals surrounding the issue at hand, realistic preventative methods are needed to further their aspirations. I also thought it was very interesting and innovative how the UN develops new and improved goals as global problems change, and the world’s focus shifts.

ELP Evanston class focusing on a new lesson.

I am very passionate about refugee resettlement and outreach programs, specifically within Chicago. This year, I have been working with a friend at the Ethiopian Community Association of Chicago, an amazing non-profit that provides refugee resettlement resources, English classes, tutoring programs, and a multitude of other services to the refugee and immigrant population in Chicago. I have been able to raise awareness about this issue by connecting my classmates and peers with ECAC through the after-school program at the center, and giving presentations on the issues refugees in Chicago face to my teachers and classmates. I can continue to spread awareness on the refugee crisis by learning more about the assimilation process in school and through the center, as well as engage my community and friends with organizations like ECAC in the future. 

ELP Evanston class in discussion.

For my Global Awareness Project, I want to focus on a different issue. Sofie and I are going to focus on hunger and accessibility to food, and have begun the process to gather and donate all leftover lunch food from our school’s cafeteria (that isn’t sold). The food will be donated to Breaking Bread Ministries, which holds soup kitchens every week, near our school. The food will be donated daily, after all lunch periods, and will help to support the church’s important efforts to lessen hunger within the Chicago area.