When El Pomar Foundation established the El Pomar Youth In Community Service (EPYCS) program in 1991, it was one of the first youth philanthropy efforts in the county geared toward high school students. Their dedication helped spur growth that we could not have imagined when EPYCS began in only a small number of Front Range schools. Over the past 17 years, EPYCS clubs throughout Colorado have distributed grants amounting to more than $10 million to nonprofit organizations working in nearly every county across the state.
With all of our Community Stewardship programs, the Trustees are committed to laying a strong foundation that will eventually allow these programs to stand on their own without the need for ongoing El Pomar support. We believe that EPYCS has reached the point where the program can function with the knowledge, enthusiasm and momentum provided by individual schools. With this in mind, the Foundation ended its formal operation of the EPYCS program in Spring 2008 and replaced it with an opportunity for high school students across the state to fully implement a youth philanthropy program under their own direction. This ultimately represents a chance for each school to make their mark by using the model initiated by El Pomar as the basis to establish a unique and effective grantmaking program of their own design.
Fifty-eight high schools applied and were approved to operate independent programs for the 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 school years. Each participating school has been empowered to develop a program that meets its needs. Therefore, each school is responsible for developing its own grantmaking process. Many of the schools have elected to follow a model similar to EPYCS; however, many have altered their approach. As a result, it is the responsiblity of each school to decide how best to communicate funding opportunities to nonprofit organizations. El Pomar Foundation will no longer serve as a clearinghouse for mission statements of participating schools. We will not post the list of participating schools out of respect for the advisors and students who could be faced with numerous inquiries from nonprofit organizations that may or may not be relevant to their grantmaking process.
The “Youth Philanthropy Program Handbook and Resources” link below provides additional guidelines and resources on how to organize and execute a youth philanthropy program.
Any additional questions may be directed to:
Gary A. Butterworth
Vice President, Programs
719-577-7022
gbutterworth@elpomar.org
