Lights! Camera! Take Action!
How does a generation share a legacy of giving, and what does this mean for our generation? What factors motivate a generation and a community to value giving and volunteering?
Photo Credit: he visitor by Spyros Petrogiannis is licensed under CC by 2.0
Students explore the stories, events, personalities, and motivations that create a culture of philanthropy. Using a video as a model, students learn about the philanthropists, unique features, and needs of their own community and create documentaries. Although it was written about West Michigan, this unit is easily adapted to any community, urban or rural.
Young people view and discuss the film The Gift of All: a Community of Givers and identify the influences and attributes of the generous people interviewed. They read biographies of generous people and make a four-slide presentation about their civic virtue.
In this session, we learn about the sectors of civil society sector - business, government, and nonprofit. Youth watch the second half of the documentary The Gift of All and talk about the issues in West Michigan and the motivations of the philanthropists who made a major difference in the area. They also write a personal mission statement.
The purpose of this session is to plan and develop a video documentary. Modeling their documentary after the West Michigan documentary The Gift of All, youth interview local philanthropists and create a multi-media story of their community and local philanthropy. Creating and sharing the documentary is an act of philanthropy as they teach and inspire others about philanthropy in the community.
The purpose of this session is to show and celebrate the completion of the video documentary. Sharing the documentary is an act of philanthropy as it teaches and inspires others about philanthropy in the community. Participants reflect and write about the service-learning experience.