WPN News

WPN Instrumental in Bringing Actress KeKe Palmer to Bethune Middle Academy

An actress famous for playing a national spelling bee champ took the stage in a surprise visit Wednesday to inspire students at Bethune Middle Academy.

Keke Palmer, best known for starring in "Akeelah and the Bee," described her character to seventh- and eighth-graders sitting in the school's auditorium.

"She thought she could never amount to anything because of where she came from," the 14-year-old said. In the movie, a teacher and Akeelah's friends and neighbors in South Central Los Angeles helped her master her words and win the national spelling bee in Washington, D.C. "She realized that where she came from was what got her to where she was (going)," Keke said. read more

Grant benefits Bethune, Laurel St.

Women’s Philanthropy Network donates $98,700

October 2007

By: Martha Fitzgerald

SHREVEPORT—Building on the success of its first major-impact donation, the Women’s Philanthropy Network Oct. 11 approved a $98,700 grant serving Bethune Middle Academy and the Sixth Grade Center on Laurel Street. The funds will be made available this month, for use throughout the school year.

The majority of the grant goes toward tutoring 75 of the most at-risk students at Bethune and mentoring students before they enter grade 7. A tracking program will follow Bethune graduates through high school, beginning with a Nov. 8 Class of 2007 party. The balance provides a second year of funding for certain programs funded by WPN’s 2006 grant. They include National Board Certification for two teachers; a schoolwide book club; cultural or historic field trips; and rewards and incentives for students and teachers. The programs helped improve attendance and curb discipline referrals at Bethune last year, reported Principal Perry Daniel.

“It takes three to five years to effect a culture change,” said Women’s Philanthropy Network chair Janie Richardson at the organization’s grants meeting. The new grant will support the climate change under way at Bethune and place an additional emphasis on improving reading skills.

The Women’s Philanthropy Network, comprising 166 members, pools the resources of women from all walks of life. Its focus is education—specifically, curbing the dropout rate. “Our work in finding ways to keep our children in school is urgent,” Richardson said.

Chair-elect Ann Stokes also heads the grants committee. She praised the work of Daniel, of Laurel Street Principal Betty Jordan and their staffs. “What a tremendous journey” the past year has been, Stokes said, as WPN members became involved individually as well as collectively in supporting the schools.

Women to pool resources for community

By Diane Haag
dhaag@gannett.com

Individually, they are the backbone of area nonprofits, giving money and time to support charitable and artistic work.

But together a group of local women are hoping to make a huge splash with a donation of at least $80,000 to an agency they select.

The Women's Philanthropy Network, a new organization founded by local philanthropists, will hold its first open meeting this week in hopes of recruiting enough women to meet that financial goal.

"People can come together to leverage their giving," said Paula Hickman, executive director of the Community Foundation of Shreveport-Bossier.

"It's natural for women because they recognize the importance of relationships."

The group requires a minimum contribution of $500. From there, members will research different agencies and projects to be considered for the annual grant.

Each fall, the women will vote on the recipient. Currently, they plan to award one grant, which will be for 80 percent of all money given that year. The other 20 percent will be set aside in an endowment to be managed by the Community Foundation.

"They have such large pools of money, they get a fantastic return, so we'll see it grow quickly," member Janie Richardson said. "It's just such a win-win situation and we're very excited."

This concept is known as a "giving circle" and has become popular in the past 15 years in communities across the country.

According to the Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers, a study of 77 circles found 57 percent to be all or mostly female. And those groups raised a total of $44 million in the past five years.

A similar circle, the Women's Endowment Quorum, has supported projects at Centenary College for the past several years.

Like the new group, members contribute each year and then decide where the money goes. It often supports several projects each year, such as study abroad scholarships, art exhibits and conference room furniture.

The new circle plans to focus on education for the first couple of years, working with teachers and administrators to find an appropriate project.

So far they have a core group of supporters, with some substantial gifts giving them hope for meeting their goal. They hope to have all the money for 2006 raised by March.

"I'd like to see it as a fund composed of women donors that are directing to the needs they see most pressing and attracting all sorts of women," said steering committee member Carolyn Nelson. "I hope it creates a whole spirit of giving rather than you just wrote your check and that was that."

from The Times article

Articles of Interest

The Philanthropist Toolkit-

By: Lionel Foster

By her own admission, 40-year-old Ellicott City native Jennifer Kozak did not come from a family that gave away a lot of money. Born in what was then a rural part of Howard County, she spent her childhood without the convenience of an air conditioner or a clothes dryer. Today she lives in Towson and runs her own graphic design firm, yet even as she and her husband, Steve, make regular contributions to their children’s college funds, they clip coupons and drive a Volvo that’s seen over 200,000 miles.

Because Kozak is not male, wealthy, or retired, hers might not be the profile that springs to mind when you think about what a philanthropist looks like. But she belongs to an organization that has awarded more than $1 million to seventy-seven charities in the Baltimore area. Click here for the full article

Community Harbors Passion for Literature

By: Kathleen Parker

SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- A visitor well versed in Southern stereotypes might be disappointed to discover that the indigenous people of this upstate community harbor a passion not for a benighted Confederacy, but for literature.

In fact, few places in the nation are doing more to advance literacy than this historic textile mill town, where books are free and reading is rewarded.

Last week marked the second year of Spartanburg High School's summer reading program, an innovative approach to literacy that is the brainchild of Kathie Bennett, an international flight attendant and mother of a local high school student. Click here for the full article