Welcome to the very first edition of The PYPLine, your source for all things PYP.  We hope to send out a monthly edition of The PYPLine, where we’ll highlight our own calendar of activities, and feature upcoming events that our members are involved in, as well as news and timely articles that are on the non-profit radar.  If you’re recruiting for a committee, trying to fill a table at an event, come across something newsworthy, or are looking for volunteers, submit your copy to [email protected].  Enjoy!

2017 Recruitment!

We’re gearing up for our first information session of 2017, and we are very excited to recruit new members, and say hello again to our current members.  Speaking of which, it’s time to renew your membership. This year, our brand new website makes it easy for you.  Just click here and fill out the 2017 Membership Form.  We’ll follow up with you to collect your dues via check.  Please note, while 100% of your $1000 member dues WILL GO TO FUND OUR GRANTS, we do have overhead like any other organization.  We need to pay for our website and our accountant.  We also need to tow the line with the IRS, which asks that we spend some portion of our funds on managing the organization, fundraising, and recruitment.  If every member could find it in their hearts to contribute the suggested donation of $50, we should be in good shape.  If you feel like you can give more, please do!  We have checked with non-profits similar to ours, and this is how they ensure that while 100% of member dues go toward the grants, the engine is still kept running with additional donations from the membership.  Speaking of which, you’ll notice on our 2017 Membership Form, there is a space for matching funds.  If your workplace or your spouse’s workplace matches funds, please let us know by checking the appropriate box and we’ll follow up with you.

Remember, our grants can only grow if our membership does.  Renew your membership today!

Member Bios

We have most of your bios, but if you’d like to update yours with a new committee or board position, just email [email protected].  If you didn’t include a bio or photo last year, but would like to do so now, just send us a short paragraph about yourself and a head shot.

Announcing: SchoolPYPs!

Over the course of the last year, we’ve been hard at work crafting a pilot program for local high-school students to participate in.  The program is called SchoolPYPs, and this year it is comprised of a collaboration between the Community Service Clubs at The Stanwich School, Sacred Heart Greenwich and Greenwich High School.  A total of $6000 in PYP grants will be awarded via the SchoolPYP program.  Each team of students will pitch us their ideas at the SchoolPYP Pitch Meeting this spring, and then our membership will vote to determine who wins.  Here’s how it works:

• Individual girls or teams may participate, 1 charity pitched per school.  1st prize grant: $3000, 2nd prize grant: $2000, 3rd prize grant: $1000 (PYP will provide grant funds, no fundraising is required by the schools)
• Schools decide internally which charity to Pitch, each charity must be 501c3 certified and must serve the needs of Greenwich, CT
• Target group: sophomores and juniors with a current interest in local philanthropy.  Each group will be called “School Name Grant Champion(s)”
• PYP, Inc. will provide at least one mentor from our membership per School Grant Champion
• Timeline is as follows:

• Students participating should be identified by the school no later than February 1st, 2017
• Tuesday, February 28th: SchoolPYP Pitch Proposals due to PYP Inc. and SchoolPYP Committee
• Any revisions should be completed and submitted to PYP Inc. membership by Friday, March 10th
• At least two scheduled meetings with mentors/SchoolPYP Grant Champions must occur between Friday March 10th and Friday April 21st to fine tune the SchoolPYP Pitches
• NB: March 10-27th private school break, public school break is April 10-14th
• SchoolPYP Pitch meeting date:  Wednesday, April 26th, 6:00pm-8:00pm.  Members then vote online and voting closes one week after, on May 3rd, 2017.
• This timeline provides from March 10th-April 26th to work on the SchoolPYP Pitches

On the 2017 Membership Form, there is a space for you to indicate interest in serving on a PYP Committee.  This would be a great one to join, as it’s the first of its kind, and will require just a couple hours of work total.  PYP Mentors will help students determine what a great SchoolPYP Pitch should look like.  We know they’ll need to include how the grant money will be used, why the charity needs/deserves the grant, and what each proposed service component (volunteer hours by students at charity they are Pitching) looks like. Remember, SchoolPYP Grant Champions can and should work with the charity they are pitching, but no representatives of the charity may be present at the SchoolPYP Pitch Meeting.  We hope you’ll share in our excitement as we launch SchoolPYPs, a program that uses the incredible skills of our membership to empower girls early on to PYP-UP and pitch for what they believe in.  We’ve seen the preliminary ideas each school is pitching, and we are just as excited as their teachers are about this upcoming pilot!

Upcoming Philanthropic Events and Opportunities

We’re so proud of our busy members!  Here are some terrific events coming up that individuals in our membership have been working on. If you want to have your event or committee added, please shoot us an email.

B*Cured is hosting its 5th annual A Field Day at Night on:

 

Interesting Article on Income Inequality

Update from 2016’s Grant Champion, Steviann Martines/CCI