Home arrow Students arrow UNC students provide nonprofits with grants while learning philanthropy in the classroom
UNC students provide nonprofits with grants while learning philanthropy in the classroom E-mail
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Thirteen University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill students are wrapping up a semester-long course highlighting community service and philanthropy.
The students, all of whom are in the Public Service Scholars program and hail from North Carolina, participated in Promoting Change through the Nonprofit Sector, a course offered by the Carolina Center for Public Service. The overall goal of the course is to inspire students to learn about and get involved with philanthropy.  The course’s last class session is Wednesday (April 23).

The course was sponsored by a $15,000 grant from Students4Giving, a joint program of The Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund and Campus Compact. UNC was one of five colleges and universities nationally to receive the award.

As a class, the students are overseeing a Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund Giving Account, disseminating a request for proposals and awarding $10,000 in grants. They considered factors such as the organizations’ scope, impact and geographic location to select recipients.

“It was really difficult to pick between all of the 43 organizations that applied,” said Neil Shrimanker, a sophomore political science and business administration* double major from Raleigh. “In the end, we picked projects that would positively impact their communities and North Carolina as a whole for years to come.”

After much deliberation, the committee of students selected five recipients from across the state, including Adolescent and Animal Rescue Fund of Johnston County, a no-kill animal sanctuary cared for by at-risk youth; Placing Animals Within Society (PAWS), a Swain County animal shelter; Read and Feed of Wake County, which works to increase low-income children’s desire to read and provides meals to the students’ families; Women and Math Mentoring Program of Durham County, an enriching experience for young women interested in mathematics, science and technology and the Volunteers and Partners for Education Program’s ESL program of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools. 

“[The class] was an amazing experience,” said Miranda Reddick, a junior psychology major from Greensboro. “I was able to see the hard work and dedication it takes for both grant providers and nonprofits to sustain an organization as well as learn the grant writing process.”

The students will continue to monitor the organizations in the coming year to see first-hand how their efforts helped various communities throughout the state.

In addition to Shrimanker and Reddick, members of the class, all of whom are studying in the College of Arts and Sciences, are:
  • Rahmin Bender, a sophomore public policy and international studies double major from Morrisville;
  • Caroline Cox, a senior sociology and Spanish double major from Raleigh;
  • Danielle Fuller, a senior political science and journalism and mass communication* double major from Kernersville;
  • Ansley Heath, a senior Spanish and international studies double major from Wake Forest;
  • Amanda Lewis, a senior international studies major from Granite Falls;
  • Janel Monroe, a sophomore communications studies major from Fayetteville;
  • Keith O’Hare, a senior communication studies and political science double major from Cary;
  • Brandon Prince, a first-year business administration major from Greensboro;
  • Sarah Gladstone Smith, a sophomore anthropology major from Williamston;
  • Travis Thompson, a junior biology and religious studies double major from Charlotte; and
  • Cintty Wang, a sophomore biology major from Cary.
* Business administration is a major in the Kenan-Flagler Business School; journalism and mass communication is a major in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Carolina Center for Public Service Web site: www.unc.edu/cps

Carolina Center for Public Service contact: Eileen Hannan, (919) 843-7568, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Promoting Change through the Nonprofit Sector student contact: Sarah Gladstone Smith, (252) 217-5935, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
News Services contact: Lisa Katz, (919) 962-2093, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it