Loudoun and Fauquier County Grants totaling $4,550 have been approved by the directors of the Piedmont Community Foundation to fund two youth projects recommended by the charter student committee of the S. Murray Rust and Mary H. C. Rust Student Philanthropy Project. The committee is made up of regional students representing nine high schools in Loudoun and Fauquier County. Students worked on this project the entire school year learning about philanthropy and how to run a grant making program. The Rust project is a community outreach program of the PCF and is seeded with an endowment from the children, grandchildren and great grandchildren of Mr. and Mrs. S. Murray Rust.

The Highland School Key Club will receive a $2,050 award to have their school partner with a local charitable organization, Mary's Family, to provide a musical therapy program for children with special needs.

The project, "Mission:Music", is the brain child of three Highland School student organizations; Highland School Key Club, Prefect Board and the National Honor Society. All three student groups will participate with about 70 student volunteers over the year to travel to the Mary's Family respite care sites to work with the special needs children on one Saturday per month.

The grant request summary states: "The new music therapy program will not only add a meaningful component to respite day activities, but will also serve as a hook to recruit more teenage student volunteers. The project will provide an opportunity to bridge the gap and build bonds between these populations, raise awareness in our teenagers about children with special needs, and build important skills and character traits in them through service. Students plan to culminate the project with an end-of-the-school-year concert to celebrate the friendships made and experiences shared."

The youth services wing of the Loudoun County Chapter of the American Red Cross (ARC) will receive a grant award of $2,500 for 210 scholarships and supplies to stage a project named "When I'm in Charge", a youth safety program. The Loudoun youth volunteers at ARC will teach 210 seven to nine year old children known as "latch key" children who have to stay home alone after school, how to respond safely to a variety of situations when direct parental supervision is not available.

Lessons include interactive roleplaying and student instructors as the main teachers are expected to have an enhanced connection with the students beyond that of adult instructors. Statistics for the "latch key" population show the highest rate of juvenile crime and victimization occurs right after school from mid-afternoon to early evening. The grant will help Loudoun teens make a difference for other children who need help to be safe.

To offer support or to learn about the S. Murray Rust and Mary H. C. Rust Student Philanthropy Project student committee please or call Foundation offices at 540-687-5223.