Final Blog

Main Street Philanthropy has opened my eyes to the various option available to me, as a young adult, to inspire change in our world. I have learned that one voice has the power to impact millions, and it is up to me to harness that power and make good use of it. In the future, I will use the tools Main Street has provided me by contacting other organizations by phone or communicating with those in a higher “position” without worry or dear. Hopefully, in the future, me along with the rest of Capstone for a Cause will make a positive impact on our community.

Final Blog

Main Street has been a great experience to have with the rest of my senior class. We wanted to end our high school careers with a BANG and I really believe that we did. I felt very pleased with the activities and hard work we put into the class. The lessons we learned during Main Street are lessons I will take with me to college and on. This class was a blessing to be apart of and I hope many kids get to experience what I did in this class.

Final Blog

The thing I will remember the most about Main Street Philanthropy is definitely the fundraisers we did. I attended the car wash and it was the first car wash that I ever participated in. I really enjoyed putting work into something that I was passionate about and physically earning money out of it which I knew would go to a good cause. The whole experience was very humbling and I felt good about participating in it. It felt amazing to donate to the organizations at the Senior Showcase. I felt truly proud of myself and my classmates for being able to pull off what we did with the little time we had. I think I’ll definitely participate in more volunteering activities in the future. I really liked the way Main Street introduced the idea of donating to charities. I really liked how we were able to bring the representatives to the class rather than just donating online or sending a check. After this class, I want to contact more organizations and do fundraisers like this even in college.

Final Blog

Main Street Philanthropy has taught me so much. I gained valuable real world experience. I really enjoyed learning about the different organizations and speaking to the heads of all the charities. I am very proud of everything, we as a class, have accomplished. Because of this class I am more likely to donate my time and money in the future. I have learned so much about fundraising. I will be able to use all of the skills I learned from Main Street Philanthropy throughout the rest of my life.

Panel Experience

The panel went a little differently than I had planned, I was confused about how the money way being split up and was unaware that all the teams were asking all the organizations questions. However, I thought it was rude how we were serving food and drinks while the panelists were speaking. Other than that, for the first time we were doing this, we did pretty okay.

Final Blog

-What will you remember most about Main Street Philanthropy?

I now know the basics behind taxes and 990s. I may not remember everything that we did, but I will remember the people, the real-world experiences (calling, interviewing, the panel), and what we accomplished. I am very proud of, even though we went through some rough patches.

– How did it feel helping the organizations you chose to help?

It made me feel like making a difference is not as hard as I originally thought. Being able to be a part of this team has made me feel excited for the future of the students and Main Street Philanthropy. Helping the organizations we chose was a huge eye opener, and even just seeing the amazement in their eyes as they receive the grant is enough :).

– Are you now more likely to give of your time and resources in the future?

Yes, I am going to try to do as much as I can while I am college and beyond. Even if it is just dropping an extra dollar into the charity collections at the store.

Final Blog

Main Street Philanthropy has taught me and my classmates a lot about life. The most significant was that it is important to reach out when you need help. By reaching out to organizations, we were able to speak personally with representatives about our work at school and their work in the program. Helping these organizations felt good because we were able to help fund them and allow them to continue to help others. Because of this class, I am more likely to give my time and effort in the future because I now know exactly how to.

Senior Showcase

The senior showcase presentation was extremely successful in my opinion. I very much enjoyed speaking to new people about our accomplishments and programs. During set-up, we were able to establish a rough outline of points to emphasize to people, which was very helpful. Prior to the showcase, Rishika and I were given just a few days to put together a video on our time in class. Despite the little amount of time, we were able to pull together an entertaining short video regarding our accomplishments and lessons learned during class.

Charity Exploration

We found several charities, but found it hard to connect with the charities. We eventually found the highlands foundation and they agreed to come to our panel.

990 Form

990 Forms were very informational and helped us conclude which charities are worth giving our money to.