IU's Center on Philanthropy to Teach Giving to Schoolchildren

Five central Indiana schools will receive the first LTG-I grants during a celebration today at 4 p.m. at St. Richard’s School, 33 E. 33rd St. The schools are IPS Washington Irving #14 Elementary School, St. Richard’s School, Eastwood Middle School, Cathedral High School and University High School, as well as a K+ program coordinated by the YMCA of Greater Indianapolis.

“We are excited to award the first ever Indiana grants to these five schools and the YMCA,” LTG-I Project Manager Kathy Matthies said. “They have expressed great interest in teaching their students about what philanthropy is and how it can affect their everyday lives. Our hope is that this program will help to build more involved, compassionate citizens for the benefit of communities throughout Indiana.”

The program offers lessons to K-12 teachers about philanthropy that are easily integrated into the already-existing school curriculum. The lessons contain both academic content and skill development activities, which can involve students in community service projects.

The Center on Philanthropy is adapting the program from the original Learning To Give initiative in Michigan thanks to a three-year grant from the Council of Michigan Foundations and contributions from The Indianapolis Foundation and Moore Foundation. The goal is to recruit partner schools across Indiana to teach the curriculum, which already is coded to Indiana standards.

A partner school receives $2,000 over a three-year period. In return, the school agrees to have at least one teacher per grade level teach two units of the Learning To Give lessons each year. During Wednesday’s celebration, LTG-I officials will award $1,000 of the grant and recognize the first Learning To Give teachers and participant schools.

Source: Indiana University's Center on Philanthropy