United Way's Youth Fund Distribution Committee to allocate $53,000 to 21 Greater Cleveland agencies

(Cleveland, Ohio) June 7, 2004
The United Way Services of Greater Cleveland John K. Mott Youth Fund Distribution Committee members will present $53,000 in grants to 21 health and human services agencies from 3 to 5 p.m. on Wednesday, June 9 at United Way Services, 1331 Euclid Avenue. Fifty-four students from 26 area high schools served on the 2004 committee. The grants will fund a variety of programs for Greater Cleveland young people including therapy, sports, education, summer camp, health care and emergency resources.

The Youth Fund Distribution Committee, established in 1991, engages area high school students in hands-on philanthropy. This year the students evaluated 72 programs, conducted 32 interviews and selected 21 organizations for funding. The YFDC follows the same format as the United Way Services Investment Committees in which volunteers read proposals, interview potential recipients and then decide which organizations will receive how much of the available funding.

The Mott Fund was supported by The Cleveland Foundation, The Florence Crittenton Fund, Jewish Community Federation-Maurice Saltzman Youth Panel, Mt. Sinai Health Care Foundation, Raymond John Wean Foundation, Unicare Corporation and United Way Services Community Response Fund.

"The Youth Fund was created 13 years ago to help teens learn the benefits of making a difference in the community," said Laura A. Koballa, senior account manager of Team NEO and volunteer advisor to the YFDC. "The students take the process of evaluating proposals very seriously and experience the difficulty of making decisions in making allocations when there are more valid requests than available resources. They also enjoy the excitement of being able to personally give the grants to those agencies whose programs were selected and knowing that they are impacting lives."

The 2004 Youth Fund Participants are:
Leah Bitounis, Shayna Cook, Bailey Vance - Hathaway Brown School
Vanessa Brandt, Nick Lebid, Audrey Skutnik - Cleve Central Catholic High School
Amelia Caldwell, Caroline Page - Brecksville-Broadview Heights High School
Sarah Cannon, Jonathan Gertman, Cassie Gladden, Katie Glass, Emily Ozan - Shaker Heights High School
William J. Chapman - Cleveland Heights High School
Luckey Dickerson - Glenville High School
Jillian Eckart, Julie Fiorelli - Gilmour Academy
Nicholas Farkas, Molly Miner, Kevin Wayner - Berea High School
Mary Gallagher, St. Joseph Academy
Billy Goldberg - Beachwood High School
Stephanie Grocke, Lyle Morgan - Hawken School
Erin Guido, Neal Papajcik, David Schabe, Natalie Thomas - Rocky River High School
Jeff Heisler, Graham White - University School
Gerald Henley II - Martin L King, Jr. High School
Cornelius Howard III - Collinwood High School
Stacey Jackson, Amy Manzo - Bay High School
Willie Johnson - Glenville High School
Gary E. Kane, Jr. - Maple Heights High School
Kierra Lyle, Huy Seng - John Marshall High School
Haider Malik, Rosalie Navarro, Xavier Peguero, Naomi Stafford, Patricia Torres, Rodney J. Wells, Pawyica Woname - James F. Rhodes High School
Sarah Schiros, Katie Spirgen - Lakewood High School
Katie Swidarski, Meghan Wingenfeld - Cuyahoga Heights High School
Matthew Vorobel - Charles F. Brush High School
Blake Washington, Dana Washington - Strongsville Senior High School
Shannon Zak - Padua Franciscan High School


Grant recipients were: Bellflower Center for Prevention of Child Abuse - Child Therapy Group for Victims of Sexual Abuse
Boys and Girls Clubs of Cleveland - Boys and Girls Clubs of Cleveland Track and Field Event
Cleveland Food Bank - A Fresh Produce Initiative
Cleveland Rape Crisis Center - Girls Kick Butt! Prevention Program
Easter Seals of Northeast Ohio - Social Skills - A Lesson in Life
Esperanza, Inc. - Prime Time for Reading
FRED'S CLUB Tutoring Programs, Inc. - FRED"S CLUBS Tutoring Programs
Great Lakes Science Center - S.T.E.P. (Science and Technology Education Partnership)
Hard Hatted Women - Rosie's GirlsTM
HELP Foundation, Inc. - Continuing Education Summer Program Equipment Needs
Hunger Network of Greater Cleveland - Oral Health for Hungry Kids
Matthew's Lending Library - Independence for All!
New Life Community - Hiram House Summer Camp Program for Graduate Kids
Ohio Association of Police Athletic Leagues - OPAL Annual Youth Conference & Training
Retired Senior Volunteer Program for Greater Cleveland - RSVP Experience Corps Tutoring Program
Scranton Road Ministries Community Development Corporation - Restorers Youth Leadership Initiative
Shoes for Kids, Inc., dba Shoes and Clothes for Kids - Payless Shoe Gift Card Program
The Free Medical Clinic of Greater Cleveland - Teen Clinic
The Gathering Place - Support for Children Cancer Patients
West Side Catholic Center - Youth Advocacy Program
Womankind Maternal and Prenatal Care Center - Maternal and Prenatal Care


For further information, contact Jessica Hussey at (216) 436-2207.