Calgary students celebrate $10M milestone

Youth philanthropy program hits $10M milestone A national philanthropy program hit a milestone in Calgary Friday.

Calgary — Friday is a celebratory day for Calgary youth and their philanthropic efforts.

The team of Grade 9 students who are a part of the Youth and Philanthropy Initiative (YPI) received a $5,000 grant for charity they chose at special event Friday celebrating $10 million granted by Canadian students through YPI.

Julie Toskan, the founder of Youth and Philanthropy Initiative, said the students do all the work themselves,

"Students look for an issue that is affecting their community negatively and then they look for charitable organizations that help address those issues," she said.

The winning team’s charity was the Autism, Aspergers Friendship Society. For one student involved, this charity hits close to home.

"I thank this all to my brother,” said Harlow Snyder, a Grade 9 student at MidSun School. “He is what fuelled this for me.”

YPI is an award-winning public foundation in youth-led participatory grant making.

To date, YPI has directed $10 million in grants to 2,000 different charities across Canada, all led by 300,000 teens.

YPI works with 125 schools throughout Canada, including seven in Calgary. The whole goal of YPI is to provide a hands-on philanthropy program for students in grades 9 and 10.

"I really believe that change for community has to happen from within community," said Toskan "I think that given the right tools, kids can make a huge difference."