Each semester, the Baylor Philanthropy Initiative provides an opportunity for students to steward and grant thousands of dollars in a unique and transformational learning environment. In collaboration with dozens of social sector partners, students enrolled in our philanthropy courses develop as innovators and philanthropists through hands-on experience, learning about the social sector and the role of philanthropy while working with community leaders to support initiatives that promote community flourishing. Two of several grants from the fall of 2016 include:
- $11,500 to The Cove, Waco’s initiative to empower the hundreds of homeless youth in our community. In concert with labor donated by others, this money will fund the full construction of an industrial kitchen for The Cove, which will have multiple positive effects. For the kids who use the facility, it will enable daily home-cooked meals along with opportunities to obtain food-handling and catering licenses, which can vastly improve job prospects. Perhaps more important, the industrial kitchen will be leased during the day (when kids are in school) to food truck vendors, whose fees will sustainably cover the entire cost of The Cove’s monthly rent payment. In turn, all future contributions to The Cove can go directly toward programming.
- $5,000 to Creative Waco to commission 52 local artists in the development of a sustainable revenue source for a local arts AMP fund. These artists will create original Waco-themed pieces that will be turned into a deck of Waco-themed playing cards, which in turn will be sold locally by retailers to fund arts and arts education initiatives throughout the community. In addition, the artists’ pieces will go on temporary display at the Texas State Capitol in celebration of Waco’s new Cultural District status.
In the 2.5 years since this initiative began, more than $330,000 have been directed to local organizations, while 100% of our 110 undergraduates have reported in post-course surveys that they anticipate making major post-Baylor contributions—through time, talent, influence, and money—to the social sector.