Loudoun and Fauquier County grants totaling $5,250 have been approved by the directors of the Piedmont Community Foundation (PCF). The grants will fund four youth projects in Loudoun and Fauquier Counties recommended by the student steering committee of the S. Murray Rust and Mary H. C. Rust Student Philanthropy Project.

Two of the grants will go to Fauquier County and two grants to Loudoun County. The committee is made up of regional students representing eleven high schools in Loudoun and Fauquier Counties. Students worked on this project, named "Forward Turn," 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 Wakefield School Service Club will receive a $1,500 award to have their school partner with the Fauquier County Food Distribution Coalition (FCFDC), to provide assistance in improving the monthly food distribution at the United Methodist Church in Warrenton. The need for food for low-income citizens is increasing, especially as the cost of daily living rises.

Students wish to add a laptop computer, wireless network card and software to the FCFDC computer system to speed up the efficiency of service at the distribution location, and purchase additional carts to move the boxes of food to the vehicles of those in need.

Students from Wakefield volunteer for FCFDC on the third Saturday of every month so they have first hand knowledge of what will help the distribution.

Learning that the "Forward Turn" program could accept a grant from young people was the answer to their search for a way to assist in improving the food distribution. Over 1000 households in the Warrenton area have registered to receive food. The food comes from USDA surplus and donations.

Any grant money remaining, after the upgrades mentioned, will be used to purchase food from USDA.

St. John the Evangelist Student Council Association will receive a $750 grant to have their school partner in improving the lives of children who are living at a local homeless shelter, the Haven, run by Fauquier Family Shelter Services, Inc. in Warrenton.

The grant was written by three seventh grade girls from St. John's who named their grant "Making the Haven's Dreams Come True." Their goal is to build stronger foundations for the children of the Haven. The grant will start projects to donate school and household supplies and to plant flowers to brighten the Haven community.

There will be educational events with St. John's students tutoring and interacting with the children at Haven. They will have a health and fitness day and they will teach about the environment. The young grantees requested $600 but the student site visit team felt the seventh grade applicants were so organized and passionate about their project, the site team recommended that the grant be raised to $750 for more supplies.

The three seventh graders said, "We are happy to know that there is an organization that gives young people the chance to help others in their community".

The Claude Moore Community Builders (CMCB), a teen initiative run by Loudoun Cares, will receive $500 in support of the teen volunteers who will participate in the Keep Loudoun Beautiful Day, a clean-up day scheduled in late summer for the popular Keep Loudoun Beautiful Park in Leesburg.

The clean-up day is a partnership between Loudoun Cares (which fosters community initiatives) and Keep Loudoun Beautiful (a local nonprofit with emphasis on environmental stewardship). With funding from "Forward Turn," the second annual clean-up day will have support for the purchase of the supplies used by the 15-25 teen volunteers. Supplies such as gloves, sun block, bug spray, gardening gear, trash containers, lunch, snacks, and water are essential for those working diligently for 6 to 8 hours on the one-day project.

During those hours the teens pick up trash, clear overgrown walkways, prune plants and other clean up duties to "Keep Loudoun Beautiful," which was the name of the youth grant submitted to "Forward Turn." With adult supervision, the CMCB teens are tasked with "leadership" for the day, dividing the work fairly, monitoring the timelines and filling out evaluations on the project.

Because of the youth leadership element of the project and the meaningful youth volunteer activity itself, the student grant-makers recommended support for the project.

Loudoun Volunteer Caregivers (LVC) will receive $2,500 in funding to launch an ongoing youth services program to provide a meaningful volunteer experience for Loudoun youth, under the age of 18, in assisting the frail and elderly with disabilities to maintain independence in their own home environment.

A youth focus group will help determine the services to be provided by youth, under the supervision and training of LVC. Because this project creates a new meaningful youth volunteer opportunity and it directly involves youth in the creation, execution and evaluation of the program, the student grant-makers were excited about giving funding to a project that can make a lasting difference in our community.

Planning will begin at LVC this summer and the initial start-up phase of development, implementation and training will be completed by March of 2009. Youth interested in the focus group should contact LVC at 703-779-8617.

To offer support or to learn about the S. Murray Rust and Mary H. C. Rust Student Philanthropy Project and the student committee of "Forward Turn", please call the Piedmont Community Foundation offices at 540-687-5223 or visit the PCF website: www.piedmontcf.org