In 2008, Trafalgar became one of the first Montreal schools to participate in the Youth and Philanthropy Initiative (YPI)). Funded by the Toskan Casale Foundation and TD Bank Financial Group, YPI is a “school-based, community-focused, hands-on program designed to actively engage youth in their communities.” The program is followed by Grade 10 students. Students learn about philanthropy and “best practices” for charitable organizations. By the end of the course, students understand the difference between a foundation and a charity, and also learned how such organizations should run with respect to their finances, ethics and accountability.
In February 2011, judged by a committee with a peer majority, the group representing VOBOC won the $5,000 prize for their charity. The winning team of Jenna Downey, Olivia Gutherz, and Megan Stewart-Waywell said, “The last five months spent working on our YPI project have involved some stressful times and putting in a lot of hard work. However, our passion and devotion for VOBOC, our chosen charity, grew more and more and led to this being the most rewarding project we have ever done. We know that this grant will affect people everywhere and hope that VOBOC continues to inspire young people battling cancer to live their lives.”
