Rivers Givers Make Check Presentations, Birne Earns Award

Rivers Givers held their 11th annual check presentation ceremony Friday morning, awarding $10,000 to representatives of four local non-profits dedicated to serving the needs of local youth.
Rivers Givers held their 11th annual check presentation ceremony Friday morning, awarding $10,000 to representatives of four local non-profits dedicated to serving the needs of local youth. Half of the funds distributed were raised by the members of the youth philanthropy program through t-shirt sales, Holiday Tournament café proceeds, and dress-down days, while the balance was a grant from the Rivers Parents’ League.

This year’s recipients included Lovin’ Spoonfuls, a non-profit founded by Rivers alumna Ashley Stanley ’97 that has collected and distributed more than 1,250,000 pounds of healthy, perishable food to families and individuals since the organization was founded in 2010. Lovin’ Spoonfuls (http://www.lovinspoonfulsinc.org), which has a fleet of four vans that operate in the downtown and metrowest area, received $4,000 from Rivers Givers.

Sociedad Latina (http://www.sociedadlatina.org), an organization based in the Mission Hill area of Boston that offers daily skill-building programs with a focus on training young Latinos to advocate for themselves, was granted $2,500. Family Promise MetroWest (http://www.familypromisemetrowest.org), an organization dedicated to providing shelter, sustenance, and support for the homeless in the metrowest area, received $1,000.

More Than Words (http://mtwyouth.org) received $2,500 to support their mission to empower at-risk youth to take charge of their lives by taking charge of a business, namely the More Than Words bookstore in Waltham and its online counterpart. One of their clients spoke passionately about how life-changing his involvement with the organization has been, enabling him to earn money while advancing his educational goals to the point where he is now applying to college.

In her remarks to the group after the ceremony, Stanley said, “Your questions during the site visit were thoughtful and detailed, often more insightful than many I'm asked by other potential funders. You know to go to the root of a community problem to look for a solution. This is how social change happens."

The check presentation ceremony was the culmination of a months-long process during which the students received applications from two dozen non-profits, reviewed them, conducted site visits, and debated the merits of the most worthy before finally selecting the four organizations to support.

“Students learn that, even as adolescents, their decision-making matters,” remarked Director of Community Service and Rivers Givers Advisor Jeanette Szretter. “They take their responsibilities very seriously because lives are counting on them.”

“During my three years with the program, I’ve been able to grow as a person,” commented Rachel Silverman ’14. “I’ve improved my skills of working in a group, voicing my opinion, and discovering what organizations and causes are important to me. Learning about a multitude of organizations has made me want to be a more active participant in society.”

Earlier this week, Assistant Head of School Jim Long announced that Marissa Birne ’15 earned the Prudential Spirit of Community Award, one of eight students from Massachusetts recognized in this national initiative. Marissa was honored for her work as founder of the non-profit organization “Art to Heal,” which offers free hands-on art workshops for children with disabilities, residents of assisted living facilities, and the homeless. The workshops, which she began at Rivers as part of the RISE program, are now offered in Massachusetts and two other states.
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