MG Alumna a Catalyst For New Youth Philanthropy Program

February 5, 2021 | Written by Lindsey Barta

As a high school student at Mount Notre Dame High School, Annie Grimm participated in Youth Philanthropy Council (YPC), a club where students work together to complete the Magnified Giving program, from 2015 to 2017. She remembers feeling empowered by the way adults leading the program treated the students like adults, especially when charging the students to conduct research on nonprofits and participate in site visits and service as part of the grant-making process. She says, “It felt very grown-up, which was awesome. It was amazing to get that real world experience and see that you were making a difference.”

After graduating in 2017, Annie began studying Secondary Social Studies Education at Miami University. In addition to actively volunteering at Ronald McDonald House with her sorority sisters, Annie was able to make a unique and special contribution to her community. While completing her student-teaching this fall at Milford High School, Annie shared about her Magnified Giving experience with her mentor teacher, Greg Rose, who had commented on his desire to involve his AP Government students in an exercise in fundraising and then donate the funds raised to a local nonprofit. A lightbulb went on in Annie’s brain, and she says, “His idea reminded me of Magnified Giving. I knew Magnified Giving was at a lot of schools and that they have a program for what he wanted to do already built. We just looked into it more and it was just the perfect fit.”

Annie and Mr. Greg Rose, her mentor teacher at Milford High School, collaborating via Zoom during a semester of primarily virtual learning.

A few phone calls later, and Annie and Mr. Rose were well on their way to establishing a Magnified Giving program at Milford High School for AP Government students in alignment with curriculum on civic duty and how to be involved in the community. Greg Rose is looking forward to using his platform as a teacher to show students how they can be active citizens. He says, “I love that with Magnified Giving, the kids get to drive it. They’ll be reaching out to the community members and creating the project and raising funds for nonprofits. I have really great kids, and this really fits into my curriculum.” Incorporating a student-driven, hands-on project into his class also gives students a unique opportunity for connection.

Mr. Rose says, “I think now more than ever, it's good for our kids and it's good for us because we're all bored with virtual learning, so being able to have something else to lean on that's not just textbooks and tests and quizzes - it adds more of a human piece to our curriculum that we're missing because of Covid-19.”

Mr. Rose feels that integrating Magnified Giving into his classroom will be meaningful for him and for his students, especially seniors. “With seniors,” he says, “one of the things I’ve seen over the last few years is that they want to leave something behind. With Magnified Giving, they can build a lasting legacy to really impact the school or community.” Mr. Rose described an example where students might raise money through Magnified Giving to donate to 4 Paws for Ability in order to replace Buffy, Milford High School’s Autism Assistance Facility Dog, when she retires. “To do something like that - they could really feel proud. They can leave a mark that isn’t superficial, but can really impact the school.”

Annie Grimm and her classmates with Roger Grein, founder of Magnified Giving, during a visit to speak to students at Mount Notre Dame High School when Annie participated in Magnified Giving through MND’s Youth Philanthropy Council (YPC).

Thanks to one awesome Magnified Giving alumna, another generation of students will be empowered to gain real-world experience through engagement in the grant-making process. Annie says, “I'm just so glad I get to carry it on because I know what an impact it had on me. To be able to share that with other people makes the impact even greater.”

Thank you, Annie! We know that after her graduation from Miami University this spring, Annie will be an amazing educator. We are even hopeful that she will be a future Magnified Giving program teacher. She says, “Similar to my student teaching experience where I helped get Magnified Giving off the ground at Milford, I would love nothing more than to work at a high school which has Magnified Giving already in place or, if not, I would implement the Magnified Giving program there. Helping students to learn the importance of philanthropy through service learning is a most rewarding effort!”