Magnified Giving, whose mission is to educate, inspire and engage students in life-long philanthropy, announced today that it concluded its 2017 Student Philanthropy program by providing grants totaling $133,922 to benefit 103 local charities, some of which received multiple grants. The 2017 program included eighty-one (81) middle and high schools in the region, involving more than 3,500 students in the process of evaluating non-profits and making informed choices to award funding.

“This continues to be exciting times for Magnified Giving’s mission and youth philanthropy in our community,” stated Kelly Collison, Executive Director. “We’re delighted to have passed the $500,000 threshold in grants issued this year for the history of Magnified Giving, as it reflects the growth of our program, our impact and the engagement of schools and students in this life-changing effort. The model we’ve created in the local community continues to affirm that philanthropy can and should be taught. We’re pleased that we’ve helped thousands of high school students engage with local charities and develop a personal mission focused on helping others in need. It is the donors who believe in our important work that makes it possible to support our community charities and educate the next generation at the same time. That is how the giving is magnified.”

Magnified Giving’s program allows participating students to see the needs of local non-profits, and to use funds provided by Magnified Giving to provide grants to the charities that they assess and select. Students at more than eighty regional high schools implemented this program throughout the school year. During the months of April and May, the students concluded the process, as they presented their chosen charities with the granted funds. This proven methodology educates students in the process of philanthropy, expands their knowledge of charities, and engages them personally in making a lasting impact in the local community. The goal is to transform students to become life-long philanthropists.

During April and May, Magnified Giving concluded the 2016/2017 program with a series of Grant Presentation Award Ceremonies at which students were able to present a grant check to their recipient agency(ies). Magnified Giving would like to acknowledge United Dairy Farmers (which provided ice cream for each event, the official ice cream of Magnified Giving), “We’re very grateful to them for their commitment to our great mission.” said Collison.

The program had a significant impact on local non-profit agencies, such as the Aubrey Rose Foundation, which received a total of $1,000 from Holy Cross High School. “Receiving this grant was amazing because not only were we able to help this family, but the students and teacher at Holy Cross High School got to know more about the Aubrey Rose Foundation and what our mission is and what our newest fundraiser is all about and so that is huge for us on the exposure aspect as well as the gift of $1000 to help this patient and their family! We are so appreciative of Magnified Giving and Holy Cross High School!”, stated Nancy Hollenkamp, Executive Director for the Aubrey Rose Foundation.

The local charities that received funds through Magnified Giving’s 2017 Student Philanthropy program include: 4 Paws for Ability; A Kid Again; A Voice For The Innocent; Adore-A-Bull Rescue; American Foundation for Suicide Prevention; Animal Adoption Foundation; Aubrey Rose Foundation; Auglaize County Humane Society; Awakening Minds Art; Bake Me Home; Bethany House Services; Big Brothers Big Sisters of Warren and Clinton Counties; BLOC Ministries; Boys & Girls Club of Greater Cincinnati; Brave Choices; Brewhaus Dog Bones; Brigid’s Path; Buckeye Search and Rescue Dogs; Building Blocks for Kids; Camp Joy; CancerFree Kids; Children’s Hunger Alliance; Cincinnati Kids 4 Kids; Cincinnati Nature Center, Cincinnati Union Bethel; Cincy Kids 4 Kids; Cinderella’s Closet; City Gospel Mission; Cleveland Rape Crisis Center; CNE Education Foundation; Crayons to Computers; Crossroads; Daybreak; Disabled Veterans of America; Ed Colina Foundation; Education Matters; Elementz; Envision Children; Fernside; First Step Home; Fitton Center for the Creative Arts; For Love of Children; Geauga County Humane Society; Great Parks Foundation; Green Dot (Women’s Crisis Center); Habitat for Humanity; H.O.P.E; Hospice of Western Reserve; InReturn; Invisible Kids Project; Josh Cares; LaSoupe; Life Learning Center; Make-a-Wish Foundation; Mentoring Plus; Mid-Miami Valley Younglife Capernaum; Milestones; NEST Community Learning Center; Never The Less; New Life Clinic; One Way Farm; Our Daily Bread; Outreach; Outside The Box; Parents of Murdered Children; Parish Kitchen; Permaganic Garden; Pray Hope Believe Foundation; Redwood; Rob’s Kids; Ronald McDonald House of Greater Cincinnati; Rose Garden Mission; Safe Harbor; Salvation Army; SATH’s Kamp Dovetail; Save the Animals Foundation; SEM Food Pantry; Shared Harvest; Soaring Hawks Foundation; Sole Brothers; SonLight Power; SPCA of Cincinnati; Springfield Soup Kitchen; St. Vincent de Paul; Stepping Stones; Stray Animal Adoption Program; Su Casa; Tamar’s Place; Teen Challenge of Cincinnati; The Dakota Center; The Dragonfly Foundation; The Nest Recovery Homes; The Sub Zero Mission; The Swan House; Transitions Inc.; Unified for Uganda; UpSpring; Wesley Chapel Mission Center; William Caston Memorial; Winton Place Youth Center; Women Helping Women; Wordplay; and Yellow Ribbon Support Center.

Local schools reported that Magnified Giving’s program was a great success for their participating staff and students. “This is an excellent program which exudes generosity, enthusiasm, and genuine love. I am glad my students had the opportunity to participate and that we could all share this experience,” stated Lauren Wenstrup, Newport Central Catholic High School teacher. Libby Turpin, a teacher at Lebanon High School, stated, “I feel it such a privilege to be involved with Magnified Giving. You have developed a program that is effective in teaching a core value of adulthood, in my opinion, and I am thrilled to be able to use MG with my kids. It is the perfect complement to the course I developed!” And from Julia Sandmann, a teacher at DePaul Cristo Rey High School: “I think the program is wonderful. It is informative, empowering to our students, and teaches values and thinking critically and compassion all at once… lifelong skills I want my students to have real world practice in before going out into the real world! Thank you!”

More than 3,500 high-school and middle-school age students participated in Magnified Giving’s 2017 Student Philanthropy program, representing the following schools: Aiken New Tech; All Saints; Alter; Anderson; Badin; Bethel-Tate; Bishop Brossart; Bishop Chatard; Butler Tech School of the Arts; Catholic Central Springfield; Cincinnati Country Day; Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy (CHCA); Clark Montessori; Clermont Northeastern; Colerain; Conner High School; Conner Middle School; Covington Catholic; Covington Latin; Dater High School; Dater PLC; Dayton; Deer Park; DePaul Cristo Rey; East Clinton; Elder; Gamble Montessori; GIVE Student Group; Goshen; Guardian Angels; Highlands; Holmes; Holy Cross; Indian Hill High School; Indian Hill Middle School; John Paul II Middle School; Kings; LaSalle; Lakota East; Lebanon; Lockland; Loveland; Madeira High School; Madeira Middle School; Mariemont; McAuley; McNicholas; Miami Valley School; Middletown; Moeller; Mount Notre Dame – Billiart; Mount Notre Dame – YPC; New Bremen; Newport Central Catholic; Newport; Notre Dame Academy; Oyler PLC; Perry; Purcell Marian; Reading; Riverview East PLC; Roger Bacon; School for Creative and Performing Arts (SCPA); Seton; Seven Hills; Shroder; Shroder PLC; Springer Middle School; St. Henry, St. Ursula; St. Xavier; Summit Country Day; Taft Info Tech PLC; Taylor; The Children’s Home for Autism and Related Disorders; Turpin; Villa Madonna; Western Hills PLC; Wickliffe; Withrow PLC; and Wyoming.

Donor gifts are needed to support this life-changing mission, and to maximize the benefit of the matching gift opportunity. Those interested in supporting Magnified Giving, sponsoring a school program or providing any resources for operational support are asked to contact Kelly Collison at 513-733-9727 or Kelly@magnifiedgiving.org. Donations can be made online at www.magnifiedgiving.org.