Author: Martin Acevedo

Teen Grantmaking Council (TCG) is made up of 25-30 high school students from across Greater Greensboro who work together to improve life for youth in our area. In addition to gaining valuable leadership experience and job skills, these Council members are responsible for making decisions about which youth projects in the community will receive grant money.

After 15 successful years, it was easy to think that Teen Grantmaking Council would continue in autopilot with its Council dinners and monthly meeting with 25 teens gathered around the table. However, COVID-19 had other plans for the 2020-2021 Council. We were forced to adapt our delivery, grantmaking, and selection processes.

The term “zoom fatigue” has become commonplace in our lexicon these days, the exhaustion felt after attending too many virtual meetings. There was large concern that after a full day of online classes, our teens would be too burned out to attend our virtual evening sessions. Quite the opposite was true! Compared to our counterparts across the state, we have seen some of the highest attendance numbers consistently. This speaks to the commitment of our Councilmembers to learn about philanthropy and to prepare for their grantmaking. Despite the multitude of changes and plethora of first-time Council members, TGC has persevered.

In the past, TGC has funded community projects that feature strong youth leadership. Members have worked hard to ascertain from applications and interviews the role of teens in each project. Due to COVID-19, the teens have opened the application up to youth-serving organizations. Many student groups are unable to meet due to school closures, indoor meeting limits, etc.

The TGC grant application is still open until February 12^th for projects that will have a positive impact on youth in Guilford County. Preferred topic areas are mental health, discrimination, and food insecurity. Youth leadership is encouraged.

To learn more about TGC and to apply for a grant, visit http://cfgg.org/initiatives/teen-grantmaking-council/.

As I write this first blog entry of 2021, I’m not where I expected to be.  I’m sitting at the kitchen table in front of my laptop on a cold Wednesday morning.  Stacks of books and papers are piled around me, hair a bit unkempt.  Two zoom meetings down, three to go.  Like many, trying to stay afloat.

If not for COVID, where would I be this morning?  Out and about around our beloved city — visiting and learning about several of the hundreds of nonprofits in Greensboro, talking with neighbors about ways the foundation could better support their work, or perhaps at a gathering of community partners addressing the need for more safe, healthy, affordable housing.  While our last in-person gatherings seem like a lifetime ago, our team here at CFGG has been hard at work throughout the pandemic – working remotely alongside neighbors, donors, nonprofits, and other partners to address our community’s most pressing opportunities and needs.

It has been 302 days since the first reported COVID case in Guilford County.  For some, these days have been a period of respite, refocusing, and renewal.  For others, they have been a time of profound suffering and loss.  For me, these past 10 months have been overflowing with feelings of optimism, uncertainty, love, loss, anger, joy, and anxiety – sometimes all arriving at the same moment.  How about for you?

COVID has magnified the fragility of systems and institutions both around the globe and here at home.  All the while, groups of folks in our community have continued to come together in extraordinary ways during recent months – organizing to address health disparities, economic and racial justice, access to food and housing, and so much more.  Each day, I find myself in awe of how deeply so many people care about our neighbors and this community.

As we set out into the unknown of 2021, we have an opportunity and a responsibility to show up differently — to be present, and to be about the business of justice, truth, compassion, and love.  During the days ahead, let’s commit to living into these responsibilities — and doing the hard work that’s in front of us — together.

Let’s talk soon, friends.

Kevin

Dear Friends,

This has certainly been a week we will never forget and, unfortunately, not for the best reasons. What we all witnessed on Wednesday was a very sad day for our country and for all communities across America. It was a day when our democracy was threatened – not from outside forces but from those within. Personally, I was sick to my stomach on several fronts. First, what we take for granted – a peaceful transfer of power – was attacked in a way that I would have never thought possible, and second, everything we work for locally – a civil society that works together to address issues and bring people together – seemed crippled.

The events we are living through are unprecedented and can easily be distracting, but I am inspired by what I see every day on a local level. Greensboro is a strong, caring community, and we are known for supporting and serving our community in times of challenge. As our nation grapples with what divides us, we can provide the example locally of what can be achieved when we focus on the good of one another and what can be accomplished when arms are linked together.

Meaningful change comes from building and nurturing relationships and encouraging civil conversations, and Greensboro has proven this to be successful time and time again over the years. And we will continue to do so.

As your Community Foundation, we believe what’s important is found in what we have the privilege of doing everyday — working with our community to make it stronger, working with individuals who love our community, and working with each other in this common purpose.

To our community partners and fellow residents, we are ready to step up when and where it is needed and ready to set an example of how to better move forward together.

Please take care of yourselves and your loved ones today and know we are holding each of you close.

Walker Sanders
President, Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro
January 8, 2021