Seeks to raise $1.05 million as Coatesville Youth Initiative become independent
By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times
The Brandywine Health Foundation kicked off its Campaign For Coatesville’s Kids at Applecross Country Club, Thursday. From left to right are: Frances Sheehan, President and CEO, Brandywine Health Foundation; Jeff March, President & CEO, Citadel; Noah Willett, CYI Game Changer Leadership Council Member; Chaya Scott, Executive Director, Coatesville Youth Initiative; Anthony Lubrano, President, The Lubrano Companies; Tom Belmont, Chair of the Coatesville Youth Initiative and Campaign for Coatesville’s Kids.
EAST BRANDYWINE — Like a proud parent, the Brandywine Health Foundation is working to make the Coatesville Youth Initiative an strong, independent part of the community, as it spins it off during 2014.
But as CYI goes from being part of the health foundation to a stand-alone non-profit, the new entity is going to need support — financially — in its first year. With that in mind, the foundation hosted a business-leaders breakfast Thursday morning to announce an aggressive fund raising goal for the year: more than $1 million — $1.05 million to be exact, at Applecross Country Club.
Called The Campaign for Coatesville’s Kids, the fundraising campaign seeks to fund CYI with $550,000, to give it funds to operate and match various grants as needed. In addition, the campaign also wants to endow the Harry lewis Jr. Scholarship Fund with $400,000 to permanently establish the fund, rather than having to yearly fund the scholarship, which provides a Coatesville student with $5,000 a year toward college or trade school education.
Lastly, the campaign seeks to fund a new Coatesville Youth Philanthropy program, which would allow teens to develop critical thinking skills by awarding grants to various community non-profits.
The good news, according to Frances Sheehan, director of Brandywine Health Foundation, is that the goal is already more than halfway met — with more than $550,000 raised so far — money that will go to work building the greater Coatesville community.
“Every dollar you invest, is a dollar for the Coatesville community,” she said.
Sheehan said the time had come to spin off CYI — that from a fundraising standpoint, the organization would now fare much better as it’s own entity — but that the foundation would continue to be a strong supporter, both in the community and with funding.
Founded in 2010, the CYI provides a variety of programs to help Coatesville’s youth — and provide positive options and training for young people.
Among the programs that are part of the core mission of CYI are, ServiceCorps, which places youths at non-profit agencies in the community, both to give back to the community and for youths to develop work and leadership skills; the annual leadership building Brandywine Trek, which takes urban youths on a four-day canoeing trip down the Brandwyine Creek; and FAST — Families and Schools Together, which boosts parental involvement in schools and builds better connections between parents and kids.
The scholarship program — which currently boasts a pair of Coatesville grads in college — needed to move to a more permanent basis, after being funded year-to-year, said Tom Belmont, the chair of CYI, who is also leading the fundraising campaign.
“We’ve got some great kids who are doing great things, because of the Harry Lewis Scholarship,” he said.
