By Jessica Dernoga
Giving to any nonprofit organization weighs a large responsibility, as each organization deserves assistance when their purpose is to help others. Attempting to decipher which organization should receive aid is difficult, as they are all uniquely qualified. By giving students the power to decide, it gives them the chance to search, analyze, and discover which organizations are important to them, and where they can find a personal connection within these organizations.
By giving students the power to decide which organization they would like to help by giving them $10,000 reflects a lot about the students themselves. By researching organizations, it is clear that each student is moved towards a certain direction, often finding organizations that one can relate to either by personal experience or through something they are passionate about or interested in. These interests are often sparked, and lead students to investigate all aspects of their preferred organization including how they help people, what their mission statement is, and if they share the same values as the organization. These key details allow for us to determine if the organization is one that they would like to help or if they want to find one that relates more to what they value.
By having the power to decide, we are able to compare organizations not only based on our individual values, but we must work together as a team in the classroom setting to determine our values collectively, as to who will get this grant. Once we begin to narrow down each organization, we must find a commonality among each individual in the class. The final organization that we choose will not only benefit from the 10,000 dollars, but will also be a reflection of both our individual and mutual values. Overall, the act of giving to an organization is not linear, as it is a process that involves deep consideration and reflection by the entire class.
