Teen girls select 5 agencies to share $22,500

Posted by ChaddsFordLive on January 5, 2016

Five Chester County service agencies received grants totaling $22,500 from the Chester County Fund for Women and Girls as part of the 12th cycle of its award-winning grant-making program.

Members of the 2015 Girls Advisory Board convene to make selections of grant recipients.

Through the Girls Advisory Board (GAB), the fund educates a new generation of young women about the importance of philanthropy and community service. While serving on GAB over a three-month period, 20 high school girls from across the county learned about the economic, social and health needs of girls in our community, set funding priorities, created a grant application, visited nonprofit agencies and recommended specific programs for funding, according to a press release from the fund.

The Girls Advisory Board awarded grants to organizations that address the girls’ top funding priorities of educational opportunity, mental health, drug abuse, security, and human trafficking.

The 2015 GAB grant recipients were the Crime Victims Center of Chester County, Inc., which received $5,000 for its female teen and adult sexual assault support groups and its human trafficking initiative; the Domestic Violence Center of Chester County, $5,000 for its Girls’ Club; Friends of Farmworkers, $5,000 for legal services to victims of labor trafficking; the Garage Community and Youth Center, $5,000 for after-school programs for girls; and Kennett After School Association; $2,500 for the After-the-Bell program, the release said.

The GAB Wrap-up Celebration will take place in January at Biztract in Malvern for all GAB girls and their families as well as fund board and committee members. The 12^th class of GAB will reflect on their experiences, share how this program changed their lives, and discuss why the five agencies were selected for funding.

To date, GAB has awarded nearly $200,000 to programs that improve the lives of girls and young women in the county. Anyone interested in serving on the 2016 Girls Advisory Board or receiving more information on the program should contact Michelle Legaspi Sanchez at michelle@ccfwg.org or visit www.ccfwg.org/girls-advisory-board.