Biographical Highlights
Born in 1922 to Mexican American parents, Francisco Vega was raised in Texas. He graduated from high school and joined the army, participating in some of World War II’s major...
Biographical Highlights
Born in 1922 to Mexican American parents, Francisco Vega was raised in Texas. He graduated from high school and joined the army, participating in some of World War II’s major...
Biographical Highlights
Born in New Jersey in 1937, Secchia went to work for Universal Forest Products and eventually owned the company. He served as the U.S. Ambassador to Italy for four years. He...
Biographical Highlights
Both Robert and Judy Hooker were born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and graduated from Calvin College. Early in their careers, Robert worked for Peter Cook in the automobile...
Biographical Highlights
A third-generation jewelry store owner, Tom Fox grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan, during the Great Depression. Later in life, Fox felt compelled to give back...
Biographical Highlights
John Canepa was a child during the Great Depression. He was born and raised in an Italian Catholic neighborhood in a small Massachusetts town. He earned degrees from Harvard...
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.
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.
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.
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.
Youth raise awareness of ways to advocate for justice and kindness and bring positive change in their school, community, and world.