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Cultivating a culture of philanthropy

Waking up early on weekends; long hours of tough decision making; asking friends and family for donations;  juggling school, work and extracurricular activities — these are some of the challenges that come with being part of the only Arab American youth grantmaking program in the country. But for the members of CAAP’s Teen Grantmaking Initiative (TGI), the rewards are worth it.

TGI makes grants to deserving causes and gives teens a chance for their voices to be heard in a real and meaningful way.

“The power to make decisions and truly help our community lies within this group, and the sense of pride after a decision is successfully made is tremendously rewarding,” said Rasha Khanafer, TGI’s youth chairwoman.

In its most recent round of grantmaking, TGI gave $4,600 to 12 Detroit-area nonprofit organizations. The funds supported a career fair for teen moms, a youth-produced documentary on Detroit’s abandoned homes, and a program that trains teens to become docents for urban art projects, among other projects.

TGI’s work —led by Chelsea Liddy, Jamie Kim and Rachid Elabed of ACCESS—attracted the attention of the influential Association of Fundraising Professionals-Detroit Chapter, which honored the group with the Sparky Anderson Award for Outstanding Youth in Philanthropy at the chapter’s National Philanthropy Day Dinner in November 2012.

And TGI is just getting started. The teens are settling into the beginning of the grantmaking process after a busy summer full of service projects, site visits and the statewide youth leadership conference. TGI recently added another chapter in New York City, taking the program to a national level, teaching even more young Arab Americans to become philanthropists and community leaders.

Teen Grantmaking Initiative members with a mural