Youth Philanthropy Initiative

On May 15^th, the Youth Philanthropy Initiative (YPI) assembly took place under the supervision of Ms. Tipler and Mme Héneault.  YPI is a program run by the Toronto-based Toscan-Casale Foundation in schools across Canada, the United States, and recently in the United Kingdom.  Students in our Grade Ten Civics classes conducted research on local grassroots charities – not national or international charities - in the social services sector.  From their research, they made presentations as to why their particular charity is worthy of support.  The best presentation from each of the Civics classes faced off at the May 15^th assembly.  This year's winning team consisted of Martin Paluchowski, Kasumi Hayashi, Victoria Pena.  Their impressive presentation advocating for their charity earned an award of  $5,000.00 for the Vita Centre, a charity in Peel that provides a range of services to support young women who are experiencing unplanned pregnancy.  In addition to earning the grant, all of this year's finalists joined students from across the province and  representatives from many of the winning charities at a gala event on May 24^th at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre put on by the Toscan-Casale Foundation.