Convent of the Sacred Heart, NY - Helping Hearts
The Convent of the Sacred Heart of New York City, like many progressively-minded schools, prides itself on its outstanding community service initiatives. One program, however, is truly unique to Sacred Heart: Helping Hearts.
Convent of the Sacred Heart, NY - Helping Hearts
The Convent of the Sacred Heart of New York City, like many progressively-minded schools, prides itself on its outstanding community service initiatives. One program, however, is truly unique to Sacred Heart: Helping Hearts.
Begun in 1996 with an anonymous $50,000 grant, this student-run philanthropy club uses the interest made from this original grant plus monies its club members raise each year to donate an average of $5000 per year to community organizations. Helping Hearts members, admitted by application and interview and in the club for the duration of their high school years, read and review dozens of applications from community organizations and projects, research these organizations, read and write grant proposals, carry out extensive site visits, and vote on which organizations will receive the annual funds.
The annual theme is not chosen by the club members alone, however. Each fall, Helping Hearts representatives create a list of causes they are interested in donating to. Then, after a chapel-based presentation, the entire Upper School student body votes on the possible themes - the one with the simple majority garnering a school year's worth of research and ultimate reward.
Recent themes have included sponsoring a school in Uganda, aiding anti-hunger and homelessness campaigns, helping fund anti-domestic violence efforts, and most recently to societies dedicated to the healthcare of children with cancer and AIDS.
