Learn more about the Youth Philanthropy Initiative, as Spencer Arshinoff, Greg Papernick, and Joseph Eisentraut share their thoughts.
The experience of doing a project for the Youth Philanthropy Initiative, or YPI, was a very enlightening one for us as we learned a variety of new things that you can’t learn in a classroom. When we visited the charity, we found out what it can be like and look like to be in a low-income situation. As our very helpful guide and representative to the charity Roz Heintzman told us, “You can’t put a face on poverty.” This was shown as we saw the variety of people — men and women of different backgrounds, religions and ages — who had to use the charity’s services just to get a meal. We also learned about the struggles one has to go through just to get healthy food. Millions of people in Canada either struggle to get enough food or eat low-quality meals at food banks. The Stop, a charity that provides free nutritious meals, is practically one-of-a-kind in Toronto. We also learned, more valuably, of the many ways that a person can make a difference in the city, even if it is something small. The YPI project was one of them; even the teams that didn’t win still had the chance to talk about a charity in front of a large group of people, hopefully encouraging some of them to donate or even possibly volunteer.
When we went to the Stop, we felt a connection to the place and realized that it could use the money, as they are expecting a deficit this year. We knew that this wouldn’t be another group project, and put the necessary effort into it to have the best possible presentation. This is not to say that we were at all expecting to win. Our competition was so strong that we were excited to even make it to the finals, let alone win. We cannot describe how happy we were to see the Stop’s name on the cheque for $5,000. We are very satisfied with the experience and feel enlightened by it.
