Last week we shared stories from five nonprofits who received Yelp Foundation grants through the Gives Local program, and this week we’re keeping the feel-good moments coming with more stories. With more than 200 organizations that received grants last year, this is just a small sampling of the good the Yelp Foundation was able to do, thanks to votes from Yelp employees and community members.
Don’t forget to vote when this year’s contest opens on Giving Tuesday, November 29th. Local nonprofits will thank you!
The Hope Center at Pullen
“Thanks to the support of the Yelp Foundation Gives Local grant, The Hope Center was able to continue to grow and expand our services that connect young people aging out of foster care in Wake County with the resources and support they need for a successful transition to adulthood. We provided support in the areas of education, employment, housing, independent living skills, financial management, physical and mental health and establishing a support network to almost 180 young people between the ages of 13-30, including children ages 0-8 whose parents have a history in the foster care system.” – Elisabeth Schroder, Development and Communications Coordinator
Literacy Council of Frederick County
“The 2015 Yelp Foundation Give Local grant helped to support our literacy programs which include one-on-one tutoring, small group instruction and conversation classes for adults who are native English speakers struggling to read and adults for whom English is a Second Language. Our mission is to teach adults in Frederick County the reading and other English language skills they need to provide for their families and contribute to the well-being and prosperity of our community.” – Laurie Fisher, Executive Director
Reading Partners
“Yelp Foundation Gives Local grants benefited students in eight Reading Partners regions including: the San Francisco Bay Area, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Charlotte, Denver, Seattle, New York City, Charleston, and Los Angeles. The Yelp Foundation’s support directly contributed to Reading Partners’ ability to provide one-on-one literacy tutoring to 5,156 elementary school students in 101 schools in 2015-16. The Yelp Foundation grant directly supported Reading Partners’ ability to launch 23 new reading centers in eight cities during the 2015-16 school year.” – Michelle Torgerson, Executive Director
Museum of Science and History (MOSH) Jacksonville
“The funds received were used to develop “Construction Instruction” a new STEM- based program offered to visiting school groups. Using everyday materials, such as drinking straws and paperclips, students discover the mathematical world of two-dimensional and three-dimensional geometric shapes. As a group, they apply their newfound knowledge as they construct towers, bridges, and put their engineering designs to the test. As part of the testing phase of “Construction Instruction,” MOSH offered it free of charge to 3 school groups, K – 2nd grade classes for a total of 130 students. The teachers offered feedback allowing MOSH educators to fine tune the program. Once completed, the program became popular and was selected as an offering for 500 – 2nd graders from Title 1 schools in the Duval County STEAM Passport Program.” – Howayda Affan, Director of Development
Community Literacy Centers
“Yelp Foundation funds were used to provide Basic Literacy and ESL (English as a Second Language) classes for adults in the Oklahoma City Metro area. Yelp Foundation funds combined with other foundation, individual and corporate funds allowed us to teach more than 1,000 adults during the grant period.” – Becky O’Dell, Executive Director
SAReads: Literacy San Antonio, Inc.
“The 2015 Yelp Foundation Gives Local grant helped fund SAReads reading instruction tutors, books and family engagement events for low income children in grades kindergarten through 3rd. The grant made a difference because students in the SAReads reading instruction program were 5.47 times more likely to achieve fully developed reading skills at grade level than students not in the program.” – Pamela Toman, Executive Director
See the full list of 180+ nonprofit nominees for this year’s Yelp Foundation Gives Local contest at yfgiveslocal.org. Vote once per nonprofit per day from November 29th to December 9th.
