Forty county high school students have taken the first step toward playing a role in awarding $20,000 to benefit youth programs and services in Leelanau County.

ALISON METIVA (second from left), director of communications and grant services for the foundation, looks on as St. Mary students and Youth GrantMakers Rachel Zemanek (left), Erin Stillin and Margaret Barley (right) review applications.

Students from Suttons Bay, St. Mary and Glen Lake schools participated in a 3-hour training last week for the Grand Traverse Community Regional Foundation’s Youth GrantMaker program.

“This is a unique program for youth, because not only does it give them the tools for grant evaluation and understanding, but empowers them to take a leading role in solving the issues that face local youth,” said Jeanne Snow, executive director of the foundation. “This is one of the programs here that we feel is a hallmark to use philanthropy as a way to build community.”

The program has its roots in a W.K. Kellogg Foundation Youth Endowment Challenge Grant. From 1992-1999, the foundation worked to raise the required match and was awarded $2 million to establish the Youth Services Endowment, which Snow said is now the largest in the state. From there, the foundation ultimately developed the Youth GrantMaker curriculum in order to train and prepare are high school students to act as advisors to the endowment.

Rachel Zemanek, Margaret Barley and Erin Stillin took part in Friday’s morning training at St. Mary. The Lake Leelanau school has the highest number of students in the region participating in the program at 32.

“We learn how to evaluate programs in terms of what good it will do for the youth in the area,” said Zemanek, who is a 2-year program participant.

Students are assigned specific proposals to evaluate and prepare a recommendation, which will be presented at an all-county Youth Advisory Council (YAC) meeting in November. In December, YACs from Leelanau, Antrim, Benzie, Kalkaska and Grand Traverse counties will present their recommendations to the foundation board for funding.

In addition to making grant recommendations, the YACs are also responsible for conducting follow-up site visits, allowing them to see grant dollars in action and bring the entire grantmaking process full circle.

During the foundation’s 15-year history, Leelanau County has benefited from $290,000 in grant funding from the Youth Services Endowment. Regionally, the Youth GrantMakers will surpass the $1.1 million mark in grants to youth services throughout the 5-county area.

Youth GrantMakers in Leelanau have supported a wide range of programs and services with their recommendations, including the Youth Health and Wellness Center Dental Campaign, Scholarships to Camps Leelanau and Kohahna Foundation, Inc., and Exposures, the county youth literary magazine.

This year, the foundation has awarded more than $24,000 to benefit Leelanau County residents through the Suttons Bay Bingham Foundation and the Genuine Leelanau Charitable Endowment Fund.

Since the foundation’s beginning, 23 Leelanau County residents have volunteered their time and talent to the Community Foundation Board. County residents currently serving on the board are Gary Drew of Suttons Bay, John Hoagland and Rob Turney of Glen Arbor, Dick Kennedy of Northport, and Ryan Sterkenburg of Leland.

The county Board of Commissioners has designated October as Community Foundation Month.