Hay guys! For the last two classes we’ve had panel classes. In these classes we’ve had people from charities of our choices come in and talk to us. I personally have learned lots from all of the charities that have talked to us. My peers in the room asked very good question for the charities that helped me get to know them even better. It was a great learning experience and i can’t wait to have my groups volley ball fundraiser to raise money for some of these organizations.

Until next week!

~Toriann

Week 5 of Main Street was lots of preparation. We talked lots about of panel classes and how they are going to be ran. As a class we discussed how the class would go down and what we should be doing as team to get to know the charities more. As a group we discussed a few of the questions we’d like to ask the charities to insure they were the charity we’d either like to donate too or at least consider them as a charity we’d like to donate to. We also went through as a class and looked at the data we had collected over the week from our research and displayed in on the board. This research had showed us how the money being brought in by the company is being spent. It really was useful to see this kind of information.

well, until next class!

~Toriann

Yet another exciting Philanthropy class! Today we talked as a class how our cold calls went throughout the week. I had a good experience and a bad experience while calling.

I called one organization and the lady i got in touch with was so kind and sweet. She explained what their mission was as a foundation and what they do to accomplish this mission. She also answered all my questions i had and explained into further details the things i wanted to know more about the foundation.

The second organization i called was the complete opposite. The lady who i was speaking to was extremely rude and sassy. She did a very poor job at explaining their mission and acted nasty when i asked her some questions about some of the things they do to accomplish their mission. It was not a good experience and i would not like to experience that again.

These calls made me realize some of the important things i should look for while trying to find an organization to donate to. Why should i donate my hard worked money to someone who is rude and nasty? i shouldn’t.

Today we also learned how to read these foundations tax returns. This showed us how to examine what they do with all their money throughout the year. It would let me know that when/if i donate to them what does my money go to. This was a great lesson not only to get to know more about the foundations, things they really don’t tell you, and taught me how to read a tax return. Before this lesson i just saw words and numbers. I never really looked any more into the numbers.

Well that’s all for this week. See you next week. Peace!

Hey guys! Back from week 3 of Main Street. The lesson today was definitely my favorite lesson so far. We got together in our groups to decide what our purpose, vision, and missions statements were. These statements would come in handy when we are calling different charities and tell them what we are working towards as a group.

Last week for homework we had to look up different charities we maybe though we’d like to donate towards in the future. This homework worked in with today’s lesson. Yale, one of my ambassadors ask my group to tell the class one of the charities we might have been looking into. I had mentioned a charity i’d looked into last week called Family Promise. I told had told Yale that their mission as a charity was to help end homelessness. This charity would an organization i’d love to help with. Yale wanted to set up an over the phone conference with an actual charity to show the class what it should be like when we do some research on our own. Since i has Family Promise’s information on hand he suggested we’d call them. So that’s what he did right in front of the whole class, he called the organization. That call conference was a great first time thing that i enjoyed. I got to hear what the organization was about and how they help people when they come to get help. I really enjoyed that experience and can’t wait to call other organizations during the week.

Well until next week….. BYE!

Back again from week 2 of Philanthropy class. This week was yet again another group bonding exercise. We got into small groups of 5-6 people. The people we were gathered into groups with happened to have the same interests as each other of what our values and concerns in a charity point of view.

This week for class we were asked to bring in three items from home that represent US. I brought in my field hockey necklace because i love playing sports within the highschool, whale earrings because the beach/ocean is such a nice place to be and it makes me very relaxed, for my last item I brought in was lipstick because i love doing my makeup and experimenting with new looks. My group members got to learn a lot about me by just those three items. I as well go to learn a lot about my fellow groups members, things that i would have never knew if i hadn’t sat down and talk to them. Two of the members in my group brought in pictures of their family. Not only did this show that they love their family but that they were family oriented and were motherly to their younger siblings. Just by seeing these few things of each other we learned so much from them.

The next exercise we did was come up with ideas for different fundraisers we could host to raise money for a cause of our choice. Some of the ideas we brainstormed were different kinds of sports tournaments we could possibly host. These tournaments would be a great way to get the other kids in school involved and at the same time raise money to donate to a good cause.

Well, until next week….

Hey guys it’s your girl Tori here reporting from day 1 of Main Street Philanthropy class. Today we got to know a little more about our Ambassador Robin and most importantly what to expect in the up coming weeks of class. But for today we worked together in groups of two to do an activity that had a slight unexpected turn.

We had these cards Make A Difference cards that were presented to us. Each card had a different broad category of different types of charities we could possibly be working with in the near future. Some of the categories consisted of Family Services, Children and Youth Services, and Public Health and Welfare. With each broad category had smaller subcategories each could have been broken down into. The task given was to first pick 6 of the cards you though were the most important to you. Next you picked 3 out of those six that were your top categories that would would defiantly choose as a charity of you liking. With you top three you were asked to write  a brief sentence or two of why you picked that card.

This exercises showed me a whole new out look on some of these categories of charities. My partner, Lea who i had been working with, justified her choosing of that category so well i felt somewhat guilty for not choosing it. She and a lot other classmates of mine all had great reasons of why the cards they picked were their top 3 picks. Each different reasons but all great explanations. This activity really made me see the different types of people I was working with in my class and what they were passionate about.

The first week of many was not only fun but eye opening. I hope to get to know my fellow classmates better as time progresses and strengthens out knowledge of one another.

… Until Next Week. Bye Y’all!