Partner Article

The importance of philanthrophy and young people

It’s important to involve young people in philanthropic activities for two reasons. First, if you teach young people the value of giving from an early age, they are more likely to grow up to become givers. Even more importantly, young people have unpredecented information and resources that allow them to make serious changes in the world.

Young People and World Events

Young people tend to become aware of the world around them at earlier and earlier ages because they have access to the worldwide community via Facebook and other social media sites. Thus, teenagers and young adults are in an excellent position to make serious global changes.

Many young people have online friends in other countries, which makes conflicts and problems in those countries personal to them. A young person who has friends in Middle Eastern or African countries, for example, will naturally be concerned about their friends’ welfare and want to help end the AIDS epidemic, impoverished conditions and wars in these countries.

Another way to help teenagers and young adults develop philantrophic interests is to allow them to travel. When a high school or college student travels to other countries, he or she sees poverty and other problems firsthand. This encourages young people to take action to resolve these types of problems. For example, one young woman became passionately involved with women’s issues in Kenya after visitng the area and learning that girls often began prostitution as early as six years of age and that most women did not go to school there.

Working Together With Children

Young people sometimes don’t know how to direct their passion in order to make positive changes. Working on a philantrophic project with a young person therefore gives older people a unique way of bonding with their children while making a positive difference in the world.

For example, instead of getting angry at a teengaer who wants to attend protests that you think are not meaningful, discuss the young person’s goals with him or her. Talk about effective ways of creating positive change and commit to doing a project together. This reduces tension, allows you and your teenager or young adult to be on the same side and provides benefits to the communities you serve. You can also broaden young people’s world views by engaging in community action of this manture; if your teenager is protesting against government intervention in a foreign country, you can help him or research the issues in that country and brainstorm ways to help resolve the issues at the root of the conflict.

Helping Write Grant Proposals

Many young people aren’t aware that there are special grants available to help them do philanthrophic work. Helping them find and locate such grants is another way to bond with your young adult while empowering him or her to make a difference. By investigating grants, you can help show your youngster that philanthropy doesn’t depend on just his or her own resources and that not having a lot of money yourself doesn’t have to be an obstacle to philanthropy.

There are many ways to encourage a philanthrophic spirit in young adults. If they are taught that helping others is a value, they can bring energy, knowledge and compassion to the table in order to make significant differences to communities in need.

Timothy Cohane and Jeffery Epstein are knowledgeable and experienced in the skill of reputation changing for small and large businesses alike. Helping management find their strength and companies grow in solitude.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Suzena Williams .