Geneva Philanthropy students present donations to three organizations

GENEVA – Marie Best, the advisor for the Geneva High School Youth Philanthropy Club, can’t say enough about the students in the program.
“You guys are amazing and you do wonderful work,” she told them before they presented checks to the Geneva Food Pantry, the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center – Ashtabula Office and the Beatitude House March 19 in the high school media center.
As a participating high school in the Ashtabula Foundation’s Youth Philanthropy program, Geneva High School received $5,000 from the foundation to donate among the recipients.
The students in the club then went through a process before deciding who would receive the money. First, they solicited applications from qualifying organizations, and interviewed them. Then, with support from Best, they came together as a board and chose grant recipients with the Ashtabula Foundation approving the funding.
Best recalled how the students spent a snow day in January zooming with the non-profits as they interviewed the applicants.
“It wasn’t just an hour,” she said. “We started at 7:30 in the morning, and we went almost until 11:30, noon almost.”
She said the students’ efforts represented dedication.
“That says a lot about your character, about who you are,” she told them.
She encouraged the students to take what they’ve learned and impact others in their career or whatever else they might do.
“Even just a small act of kindness goes a long way,” she said.
Geneva Food Pantry received $2,000 while the Beatitude House and the Cleveland Rape Crisis center were each given $1,500.
Before the presentation to the food pantry, senior Riley Andrusis, secretary of the Philanthropy Club, said she was impressed by all the dedicated people who commit all their time, energy and support to the food pantry.
“It’s clear that they truly care about every person they serve,” she said, noting the food pantry provides excellent support to the community to ensure people have access to food and basic necessities.
Andrusis said the food pantry volunteers work hard to make a direct and meaningful impact. She was amazed by how efficiently the food pantry is run.
“The compassion is really shown by everybody involved,” she added.
Andrusis said the Philanthropy students were proud to contribute to such an important cause and were grateful for the work the food pantry does in the community.
Nancy Deligianis, director of services for the Geneva Food Pantry, thanked the students.
“We’re gratified with this money because we’re going to dedicate it towards dairy products – so, milk, butter, cheese,” she said. “Those are household staples. We don’t always get them through our government funding and programming, so this will be dedicated to ensuring for a while our families here in Geneva will have these products in their refrigerators.”
Senior Zach Dunn, a three-year member of the philanthropy program, spoke prior to the presentation to Beatitude House.
Looking back on his time with the program, he said he enjoyed interacting with all the non-profit organizations benefitting from the donations. He liked that better than just signing a check and sending it off to a non-profit.
He said Beatitude House’s cause was “tremendous,” noting he appreciated the enthusiasm shown by those involved with the non-profit.
“I do want to say thank you so much for including us this year with all of your generosity,” Stacy Cole, site administrator for Beatitude House, said.
She said she was very impressed with the questions that the Philanthropy students came up with in their interview.
“I’m very appreciative,” she said. “Thank you so much for taking the time to ask us questions.”
She said the donation will be specific to youth and child enrichment activities such as sports fees, picture days, school fees and instruments for the children.
“This is all for our children in our program,” she said. “Our children don’t know they live in a homeless shelter and that’s pretty important for our population. I want them to have the same advantages that every other child in school has.”
Another of the students in the program, Ashlyn Palmer, spoke prior to the presentation of the donation to The Cleveland Rape Crisis Center.
She said the center is one of the most impactful things she’s seen.
“It’s very deserving,” she said.
Liz Neidich, grants manager of the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center, offered her thanks for the donation.
“We really appreciate it,” she said.
Niedich said the donation will be used to support survivors of sexual violence in Ashtabula County with such services as trauma therapy, case management and victim advocacy.
“We have 24-hour crisis intervention,” she added. The Crisis & Support Hotline is available anytime of the day or night by calling or texting (216) 619-6192.
“We have advocates who will meet survivors at police stations or hospitals if they’re filing a police report or going through a hospital exam,” Niedich said.
She noted that the center’s services in Ashtabula are often overlooked because it has “Cleveland” in its name.
Some of the money will be used for community outreach to let people know about the services in Ashtabula County.
“Not a lot of people realize that we have a stand-alone office in Ashtabula, so we do a lot of community outreach and marketing,” Niedich said.
In addition to Cuyahoga County and Ashtabula County, the center’s counseling, advocacy and education programs also serve Geauga County and Lake County, according to its website.
Geneva High School Principal Michael King said the students in the philanthropy program are the nicest students you’ll ever meet.
“Their empathy, their compassion is unparalleled and I am proud to be a part of this program with them,” he said.
“I just think it’s wonderful when kids work together,” Geneva Area City School District Superintendent Dr. Paul Lombardo said. “I know this money comes from the foundation, but it’s just nice that they were part of the process.”
Kelley Katon, associate director of the Ashtabula Foundation, was on hand for the presentation.
“The grants that they chose to support are going to make a huge impact in our community,” she said. “We’re very proud about the meaningful decisions about where the grants funds will be utilized.”
The funding, she said, will help fill gaps in the community.