Published On: Tue, Mar 14th, 2023

Two Olympic Heights Community High School Students are Awarded $10,000 for Their Philanthropic Project 

Erica Frishberg, Jacob Carrion and Tom Vining – Photo: Tracey Benson Photography

Boca Raton, FL – Olympic Heights Community High School sophomores Erica Frishberg and Jacob Carrion were awarded $10,000 at the Philanthropy Tank Finals Event on March 8th for their philanthropic project, “Hearing for a Change.” Hearing for a Change is a program made up of high school students who put on book clubs to listen and discuss audiobooks with struggling readers at Palm Beach County School District elementary schools for 45 minutes a week during aftercare. The goal of this project is to expose these young readers to books so they can increase their vocabulary, knowledge, imagination, and comprehension ability. Frishberg and Carrion will use the awarded funds to expand their program under the mentorship of former Otis Elevator senior executive, Tom Vining.

Five student-led group Finalists presented their philanthropic ideas to a panel of Philanthropist Investors at the livePhilanthropy Tank Finals Event at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts. The Philanthropist Investors awarded a total of $47,000 to the projects. They also each chose a student group to mentor to help them execute their initiatives and increase their ability to make meaningful change throughout Palm Beach County.  

Philanthropy Tank challenges, empowers, and equips the next generation of CHANGEmakers to develop and execute sustainable initiatives and solutions to solve problems in their communities.

The four remaining groups who were awarded funding include:

·      Endgame Education: Maya Behura (10th Boynton Beach) from American Heritage School (Palm Beach County Campus): Endgame Education is a chess centered organization that provides young people with exposure to the game, as well as tutoring for those looking to compete by hosting in person and virtual events. The goal of the organization is to expand the minds of youth through the problem solving and critical thinking that is needed to excel at the incredible game of chess. 

·      Hooks with HeartAnna Johnson (10th Delray Beach), Senai Newby (10th Lake Worth), and Donna Cornish (11th Delray Beach) from Atlantic Community High School: Hooks with Heart is a crocheting club with the mission of teaching the art of crochet while providing a safe space to encourage human connection, promote animal welfare, and mental health improvement of youth and adults. 

·      Down to Earth: Daisy Li (11th Jupiter) from Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts: Down to Earth seeks to educate fourth and fifth grade students in Palm Beach County public and charter schools about climate change, and mobilize them and their families to practice sustainability through the perspective-shifting opportunity to view Science on a Sphere, a six-foot diameter NOAA globe projection screen that visualizes Earth systems in three dimensions.

·      TaTa for NowJessie Baxter (10th Jupiter), and Holly Milsom (10th Jupiter) from Jupiter High School: TaTa for Now focuses on providing quality and well fitted undergarments to school aged girls in Palm Beach County who are clothing insecure. This goal of this initiative is to boost the self-esteem of young women by providing for a very basic need that is often overlooked. 

This year’s Philanthropist Investors were Don Byrd, Executive Vice President, TBC Corporation, representing the Honda Classic, Debra Elmore, Founder of A.K. Consulting, Chadi Irani, Regional Vice President of Advertising at LocaliQ, representing the Palm Beach Post, and Tom Vining. WPBF 25 First Warning Meteorologist Glenn Glazer served as Master of Ceremonies.

To date, Philanthropy Tank student-led programs in Palm Beach County and Baltimore have impacted more than 300,000 lives; more than 1000 students have participated in the student programs; and more than $750,000 in grant money has been awarded to nearly 70 student-led projects. 

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