SAIL, YMCA among Community Foundation winners
HUNTSVILLE – In its #SummitGivesBack crowd-funding campaign, Community Foundation of Greater Huntsville has recognized a Madison recreational activity and a popular summer venture with Madison City Schools.
Madison recipients were the Splash! swimming safety lessons at Hogan Family YMCA with Heart of the Valley YMCA and Summer Adventures in Learning or SAIL, offered by Madison City Schools and affiliated with The Schools Foundation and Community Foundation.
The selection process started in April when 29 nonprofit partners of the foundation and agency fundholders were invited to submit proposals for a project to benefit the community.
From 10 submitted proposals, the Community Impact Committee selected six agencies to participate in #SummitGivesBack crowdfunding campaign, Stuart Obermann said. Obermann is foundation CEO/President.
Other projects that received funding were the Cap & Gown project; Grants to Green by Energy Alabama & Community Foundation; and Good Seeds Grow Well with Huntsville Botanical Garden.
“The #SummitGivesBack campaign was something of an experiment for us, utilizing a social media-based crowdfunding platform to raise money for local nonprofit projects,” Obermann said.
Gifts ranged from $5 to $5,000 from various donors. “This campaign allowed us to democratize philanthropy, making it accessible to everyone interested, and it was especially effective in reaching out to a younger demographic through the social media,” Obermann said.
SPLASH is YMCA’s anti-drowning initiative that uses the positive power of water safety education to save lives. This fall, 700 third-graders who are enrolled in Madison City Schools participated in the three-day water safety classes as part of their school curriculum. They learned to “reach or throw, don’t go” when a friend is struggling in the water.
For the SAIL program, Madison Elementary School hosted the program in June for students across Madison, focusing on the English Learners segment. Madison City Schools has students who speak more than 50 languages in their homes.
SAIL targets EL students with academic and language needs, helping them to avoid summer learning loss. Approximately 100 children participated in sessions in summer 2017.
For more information, call 256-535-2065, email info@communityfoundationhsv.org or visit communityfoundationhsv.org.
