Girls Inc. of Omaha received a $2,000 grant through the Youth in Philanthropy initiative of the Omaha Community Foundation for “GREEN:  It’s the New Pink.”  The GREEN program fetaures recycling, composting, and other green initiatives.  The Girls Inc. of Omaha girls will use social media – twitter, facebook, blogging, and web cam chats – to share their project with girls around the country.  They hope to learn what other communities are doing and to share their successes and failures with fellow GREEN girls from peer Girls Inc. affiliates  In the photo below Girls Inc. members Zhomentee, Talia, and Keyona accept the check from grant committee member Karen Cheng.

[From the Omaha Community Foundation website:  The Youth in Philanthropy Initiative is a program designed to involve local youth leaders in philanthropy.  Juniors and seniors in high schools from across the city serve as the grant committee for distributing funds established through Youth in Philanthropy.

Youth in Philanthropy is an endowed fund established through the Omaha Community Foundation from the proceeds of the sale of 3-D eyeglasses at the 2000 Millennium Lights celebration on the Gene Leahy Mall.  A number of additional Omaha Community Foundation donors who support youth driven philanthropy also contribute to this fund.

Youth Leadership Omaha Ambassadors define the focus of the grant, determine review criteria, and select grant recipients.  These high school juniors and seniors have examined issues they believe are most important to the youth of our city, discussed what topics interest them, and researched those areas.  This effort helped the committee select “Teens Go Green” as the focus for the 2010 grants.]