Denison’s Venture Philanthropy student club looks to award $10,000 grant to a community partner

Posted: August 3, 2012

GRANVILLE, Ohio—Denison University’s Venture Philanthropy Club (VPC), a student service-learning club, celebrates its fifth year with a request for proposals from Licking County organizations, including nonprofits, which focus on community development. The successful applicant will receive a $10,000 grant in the spring of 2013 and 200 hours of student service hours for use to help implement the proposal. The details of the request for proposal can be found at www.denison.edu/vpc. The deadline for proposals to be submitted is Friday, Sept. 21. Submit applications with annual financial statement and IRS form 990 to DenisonVPC@gmail.com. Support materials can be sent to Sahila Jorapur ’15, VPC’s vice-chair for investment oversight, Denison University, 8844 Slayter Union, Granville, Ohio 43023. Questions may be submitted to DenisonVPC@gmail.com.

“The goal of the VPC is to make a measurable and sustainable impact in the Licking County community, especially with regards to community development,” said Peter Hurford ’14 from Cincinnati, chair of the organization. “We want to make a real, sustainable difference in the community. We also want to leverage our monetary grant with 200 hours of student service, providing our students valuable experiences in the community and giving the organization we choose another layer of assistance.”

Requirements for the proposal include:

1. The grant must serve Licking County communities.

2. Proposals must address community development, or any work that brings people together to improve quality of life.

3. No part of the investment may be used to fund salaries.

4. Proposals featuring one-time events are discouraged.

5. The full balance of the $10,000 investment and 200 student hours must be used before April 12, 2013.

Since its inception in 2008, through a donation of David Kuhns, a member of the Denison class of 1968, the VPC makes an annual grant of funds to a local organization in order to effect “positive and meaningful change in the lives of others.” The two most recent winners of the VPC grant are the Licking County Coalition of Housing, which used the grant to update their website, to better manage their work in assessing and improving housing resources; and Pathways of Central Ohio, which worked with the Licking County Prescription Drug Task Force to create the RxCollect pilot program to provide safe, secure disposal of pharmaceuticals at local police stations.

About Denison:

Denison University, founded in 1831, is an independent, residential liberal arts institution located in Granville, Ohio. A highly selective college enrolling 2,100 full-time undergraduate students from all 50 states and dozens of foreign countries, Denison is a place where innovative faculty and motivated students collaborate in rigorous scholarship, civic engagement and the cultivation of independent thinking.

For press inquiries:

Name: Ginny Sharkey
Position Title: Media Relations
Primary Email: sharkeyv@denison.edu
Business Phone: (740) 587-6266

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