The assignment for Jillian Carter, Kaytlyn Kiss, Angela Lamperth and Michelle Owens was to choose a charity, research it and present a proposal for a request for funding.

To be successful, students must prove the charity will benefit from the funding. The winning group of novice philanthropist will be presented with $5,000 to be donated to the charity selected for the project.

This initiative, spearheaded and funded by the Toskan Casale Foundation, enables students to channel their energies into philanthropic gestures and prepare themselves for community leadership through education and practical experience, according to the foundation’s website.

With a long list of charities before them, Carter, Kiss, Lamperth and Owens started out by delving deeper into each organization. After placing a few phone calls, some charities were crossed off the list. Then they stumbled upon Covenant House, a charitable organization dedicated to helping teens in need.

“Covenant House was the most responsive,” said Lamperth.

“A lot of the charities we talked to, they weren’t very cooperative when we were talking to them until we mentioned that we could have some money (to give to them),” added Owens.

After choosing Covenant House for their youth and philanthropy initiative, the girls took a tour of the organization’s facilities. There, they sat through in-person and video presentations and were treated to a meal.

The students were most impressed with Covenant House’s philosophy: to help teens in every way necessary.

“They said, however, they could help teens in their time of need they would,” said Carter.

“Whether they just need a piece of bread of it they need a place to stay, or career counseling even,” the organization was there, offering its help to youth between the ages of 16 and 24, added Owens.

The quartet was even more inclined to boost the charity after hearing that many of the employees and youth workers at the facility once sought the services offered by Covenant House.

“He was off the street and went through everything there (Covenant House) and now he works there,” said Owens of one of the youth workers.

During the course of their research, the girls were inspired personally to contribute their time, efforts and combined energy to assist the charity. The foursome decided to register for the five-kilometre Step Up for Street Kids walk, slated for November 8 at Yonge and Dundas Square in Toronto.

Participating in the fundraising walk under the team name Teens for Teens, the WDHS students pledged to raise $5,000 for Covenant House.

They figured if their project wasn’t picked as the school’s best youth and philanthropy project and they weren’t presented with the Toskan Casale Foundation funding, their personal fundraising efforts for the fivekilometre walk would still boost the organization.

“No matter what happens, we will still be able to give the charity the $5,000,” said Carter.

Thrilled that they’ve taken the initiative to support the organization, which offers a helping hand to teens their age, the girls are also excited to reach their personal fundraising goal.

“We are excited to see how much other people are raising too, to see the difference it’s going to make,” said Kiss.

So far, the students have appealed to their principal, Helen McGregor, for local opportunities to drum up support for their big walk within the student body. They also plan to broadcast their project on WDHS’s WIN TV in hopes of garnering support from their peers.

While participating in the Step Up for Street Kids walk and completing their civics class assignment, the girls have been “totally inspired.” After all, explained Owens, the group could have returned home, worked on their class project and called it a day.

Instead, they’ve upped the ante and taken their youth and philanthropy initiative a step further to support a charitable organization that is now near and dear to their hearts.

To support Carter, Kiss, Lamperth and Owens and their group, Teens for Teens, during its fundraising walk, visit www.covenanthouse.ca and click on the Step Up for Street Kids link. For further information or to donate, interested residents can contact Lamperth via email at zlamperth@zanotti.ca or by calling (905) 689-2897. Information on the Toskan Casale Foundation is available on the web at www.toskanfoundation.org .