I am involved in Youth in Philanthropy. In this program, 25 local students are admitted and our goal is to raise money for local non-profits in the area. In this program, I go out in the community and raise money through generous donors. After a few months of this, the program receives grant requests which the students read and review. After reading and reviewing these grants we decide who we want to give our pool of money to. Last year our program raised 57,000 dollars and we were able to fulfill three grant requests! I am passionate about philanthropy, especially at a young age, because it teaches you good lifelong skills. I have learned a lot from philanthropy like how to gain the confidence to ask for money, keep your donors and money organized, and learn how to effectively read & review grant requests. I also believe that philanthropy is important because it is a good way to give back to your community. I live in a tourist, lakes area community with a lot of state parks and nature accesses that have given me a lot. I am very grateful to live in such a beautiful community like mine that I am very passionate about giving back to. My community has done so much to me that giving back to it is very important to me. It takes a lot to balance my passion of giving back and my academic responsibilties. Although, I have found that joining programs that are for the youth help me balance this in the best way. My YIP meeting happen once a month around 7:15pm on Wednesday. The very few meeting of this program allow me to still go to youth group most Wednesdays, and the later time allows me to finish my sports practice before the meeting. When not in season this also gives me time to finish my homework and studying for the day. I have also found that good time management and planning skills have helped me keep a good balance. Time management is important when you have a lot going on because it keeps you at minimal levels of stress. Planning is also very important because it helps keep you organized and helps me to know what I have to get done for that day. Overall, Youth in Philanthropy is a great program I am in that allows me to fufill my passion of giving back to my great community. I am able to balance my passions and academic responsibilties by joining youth based programs and having good time management & planning skills.