Donation
Finneytown Middle School Students Raise Money For Homeless
Twelve Finneytown Middle School students are going to be hooping it up for the Homeless Project at Talbert House’s Parkway Center this coming weekend. Beginning Friday at 4 pm, they’ll play three-on-three basketball games for 24 hours straight. They’re raising money by getting sponsors.
Lucas Gould, an Indian Hill High School student, began the Hoops for the Homeless Project to raise money for an outdoor recreation area and basketball court. Together with help from legend Oscar Robertson they raised more than $45,000. While the basketball court is finished, more money is needed to pay for it.
“It’s great to see young people creating projects to help others,” Talbert House Development Director Tracy Wells told the Enquirer. “It’s truly inspiring to work with teenagers who are spending their time improving the lives of the homeless when they could be doing other activities. We hope this will lead them to more involvement in their communities.”
Social Circus Foundation Collecting Unicycles For Kids
The Social Circus Foundation, Inc.(SCF) in Ludlow, Kentucky – the Greater Cincinnati region’s most unique foundation focused on supporting programs that use 
circus acts to strengthen and enhance lives, is partnering with Reser Bicycle Outfitters and Circus Mojo to collect 100 unicycles for social circuses that are helping underserved children succeed in the Tri-State and across the globe. The drive goes through August 31, 2013. Drop off locations are below.
Social circuses are organizations that utilize circus skills such as juggling, balancing, spinning plates and riding unicycles as to teach kids of all abilities lessons in determination, focus, self-esteem, teamwork, coordination, creativity, and values. Social circuses provide educational help, nourishment and enrichment.
How will the unicycles be used?
This summer, through Ludlow’s Circus Mojo, the SCF wants to give Greater Cincinnati urban youth who are attending camp with scholarships funded by the Kicks for Kids Foundation, each a unicycle to continue practicing their skills. Additionally, the SCF will send unicycles to Kenya’s Kiberia Social Circus and Indonesia’s Hidung Merah Youth Circus.
Meshu Tamrat, the founder of the Kiberia Social Circus, and Wawan Kuriawan, a student of the Hidung Merah Youth Circus, are both artists in residence this summer at Circus Mojo. Kuriawan, 18, is from an impoverished village in North Jakarta, Indonesia. He dropped out of school in the 6th grade when his family was unable to pay for his education; and in 2009 joined the Red Nose Foundation. Circus Mojo is sponsoring his visa to study here.
“Before beginning Circus Mojo, I toured the world teaching performing and teaching. One of my former students was a refugee from the Sudan and a great unicycle performer who was tragically killed by gang violence,” said Circus Mojo Founder, Paul Miller. “Remembering him, we want to give other youth opportunities to grow. We know that the fun, enriching type of environment social circuses provide can channel young energy in a productive way and change lives. We have a theory that on every street within the I-275 loop is a unicycle collecting dust in a basement attic or garage, and we want to put those unicycles to great use.”
Drop-off locations for unicycle donation:
Reser Bicycle Outfitters
648 Monmoth Street
Newport, Ky 41071
Reser Bicycle Outfitters
1419 Vine Street
Over-the-Rhine, Oh 45202
Circus Mojo
326 Elm Street
Ludlow, Ky 41016
Unicycles can also be brought to the Devou Park Amphitheatre on August 31, 2013 for Cirque Devou Deux, a joint performance from the Kentucky Symphony Orchestra and Circus Mojo. Show begins at 7:30PM.
The Social Circus Foundation is also accepting monetary donations to help offset the shipping expense to Kenya and Indonesia. To make a donation, please visit www.socialcircus.wordpress.com.
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About the Social Circus Foundation
The Social Circus Foundation INC supports programs using circus to enhance the lives of people with disabilities and hospitalized children at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, for vocational training, and to study the impact of social circus.
About Circus Mojo
Founded in 2009 by former Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey clown Paul Miller, Circus Mojo engages people of all ages to focus on abilities in hospitals, boardrooms, events, workshops, and other venues. With three focus areas – entertainment, education and community development – its programs and performances are designed to unlock personal talent, confidence, drive and spirit.
About Jason Reser
Jason has been involved in the bicycle industry since he was a very, very young guy. He’s a former Ohio and Kentucky state mountain biking champion and spent all of high school employed at Bishop’s Bicycles. Since the beginning Jason has been seriously committed to bicycle advocacy. He spends as much time in the shop as he does lobbying for mountain bike trails and improvements for bicycling across the region.
St. Vincent de Paul Is Collecting For Oklahoma Tornado Victims
The Society of St. Vincent de Paul is asking for help in bringing relief to the residents of Moore, Okla. following the devastation of Monday’s tornado. St. Vincent de Paul volunteers living in the affected area are already on the ground giving relief to their neighbors who have been impacted by the storm. We are asking for financial donations to directly support those local volunteers in their efforts.
St. Vincent de Paul is also collecting personal care items and toiletries, cleaning supplies, first aid supplies, blankets and baby care products. We are partnering with Matthew 25 Ministries to deliver these items to the affected area. 
Here’s how you can help:
- Make a financial donation online at www.SVDPcincinnati.org or by calling 513-421-HOPE (4673).
- Donate personal care items, cleaning supplies, first aid supplies, blankets and baby care products at any St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store location or at our West End Outreach Center. Visit www.SVDPcincinnati.org for locations.
- Spread the word to friends and family who are looking for ways to help volunteers working on the ground in the affected area.
For more information on St. Vincent de Paul-Cincinnati’s relief efforts contact Eric Young, community relations manager, at 513-614-1943.
Students Donated Nearly $50,000 Through Magnified Giving
Last fall it was so wonderful to have been given the opportunity to learn about one of our region’s truly great philanthropists – Roger Grein when I helped raise awareness of his contributions. Roger has given to local nonprofits with his resources and his heart. However, his greatest legacy is in the hearts of thousands of young people in whom he and his Magnified Giving team of staff and volunteers have instilled long lasting generosity.
Magnified Giving is a nonprofit organization whose mission it is to educate, inspire, and engage students in philanthropy. Its vision of Magnified Giving is for every high school student in America, starting with the Greater 
Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky area, to someday have the opportunity to learn first-hand how to be generous and wise philanthropists.
Each year, participating school groups are challenged to determine how they want to invest up to $2000 in a nonprofit. They research, evaluate nonprofit grant applications, fundraise to earn matching dollars – gaining leadership, communication, and teamwork skills as part of the process. This spring in a packed auditorium of over 600 students, teachers, nonprofits, donors, parents, and community leaders, nearly $50,000 was presented to causes doing great work.
“The most rewarding aspect of Magnified Giving is when what we do in the classroom reaches beyond the walls of the school in a tangible way. I see students ‘get it’ when they come back from a site visit,” said Julie Vehorn, director of curriculum and instruction at Roger Bacon High School overseeing her school’s Magnified Giving program.
Participating Schools
Aiken College & Career
Arlington Heights
Bethel-Tate
Bishop Brossart
Chaminade Julienne
Cincinnati Country Day
Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy
Covington Catholic
Dater
Elder
Holmes
Indian Hill
Kings
Loveland
McAuley
McNicholas
Miami Valley Christian Academy
Mother of Mercy
Mt. Notre Dame
Notre Dame Academy
Perry High School
Reading
Roger Bacon
St. Henry
St. Xavier
School for the Creative and Performing Arts
Seton
Shroder
Starfire University
Summit Country Day
Taylor
Ursuline Academy
Wyoming
Pilot Programs
Madeira Middle School
Northern KY Youth Advisory Board
Northern Kentucky University Students Learn About Philanthropy
Learning about philanthropy is such a powerful lesson for college students, and, when taught young, tends to permeate their adult lives. At Northern Kentucky University, that lesson has amounted to $18,550 invested by college students in 12 Greater Cincinnati area nonprofit organizations during the spring 2013 semester. It is all part of the nationally recognized Mayerson Student Philanthropy Project.
Student philanthropy classes at NKU combine grant-making with classroom learning, so that students become more engaged in their reading and research. Nearly 90 percent of the students who take a student philanthropy class at NKU report increased understanding of the ideas being taught in the course. They also reported heightened awareness of community needs and how nonprofit organizations are meeting those needs.
“Mayerson classes are some of the most effective classes we offer at NKU,” said Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost Gail Wells.
This was the 13th year for student philanthropy courses at NKU. In that time, students have had a hand in the distribution of $757,000 to 300 nonprofit organizations, the majority of that in the form of direct grants of $1,000 to $2,000. The funding generally comes from community donors. The Manuel D. & Rhoda Mayerson Foundation of Cincinnati, Citi of Florence and the Scripps Howard Foundation of Cincinnati were the key supports for the spring semester.
In addition, students raised some of the money to support the classes with letter-writing campaigns, T-shirt sales and other fundraising efforts. Students raised over $2,500 of the $18,550 being distributed. Some classes also collected needed items for nonprofits and signed up after class to volunteer for the organizations.
“One of the great aspects of this program is the community support,” said Mark Neikirk, executive director of the NKU Scripps Howard Center for Civic Engagement, which oversees the program. “Donors to the ‘giving pool’ have made it possible for NKU to offer these classes year in and year out.
“But in recent years, students have stepped up, too, raising some of the funds directly,” he said. “What we’re trying to teach is the class material. What we’re trying to instill is community stewardship – what the late Manuel Mayerson, who helped conceive of this program, called ‘the habit of giving.’ And research shows that this works. NKU students who took a Mayerson Student Philanthropy Project class are more likely, after graduation, to give money to nonprofits, to serve on nonprofit boards and to volunteer their time.”
NKU is a national leader in developing student philanthropy pedagogy. A faculty handbook, published in 2010 by NKU, has been distributed nationally to universities in nearly every state. NKU faculties have published research on the topic and frequently discuss this pedagogy at academic conferences.
This year’s recipient organizations were: the Dragonfly Foundation ($1,275); the Children’s Law Center ($1,275); Teen Challenge Cincinnati ($1,000); DCCH Center for Families and Children ($1,000); Reset Ministries ($1,000); Hosea House ($4,000); Buseesa Community Development Centre in Uganda and the Sisters of Notre Dame in Park Hills ($2,000); Santa Maria Community Services International Welcome Center ($1,000); Stop AIDS ($1,000); Ronald McDonald House Charities of Greater Cincinnati ($2,000); Brighton Recovery Center for Women ($1,000); and Historic New Richmond Inc. ($2,000).
Classes participating this year included Strategies of Persuasion, College Writing, Grant Proposal Writing, Leadership Around the World, Studies in Spanish Language Cinema, Community Social Work, Social Work Practice, and Exhibits and Museums and Historic Sites.
A full list of nonprofits that have received funding from 2000 through Spring 2012 is available at http://civicengagement.nku.edu/involved/mayerson.php, along with the classes involved.
Donations to the Mayerson Student Philanthropy Project can be made online at http://development.nku.edu/give.html (specify Mayerson Student Philanthropy Project) or by contacting Dan Emsicke in the NKU Office of University Development at (859) 572-5628 or emsicked1@nku.edu.
