Denison Venture Philanthropy (DVP), a unique Denison University student program organized around philanthropy, will present $10,000 and 200 volunteer hours to the Center for Disability Services (CDS) in Newark. CDS’s mission is to provide children and adults who have or are at risk for disabilities, the support, training, opportunities, and facilities needed to achieve their highest degree of independence and greatest quality of life.
“I was really pleased by the large variety of proposals we received this year,” said the club’s Investee Oversight Chair Oliver Gladfelter ’18, “I’m very excited to see what comes out of this project; with it we have the ability to change lives.”
Members of DVP will work with CDS to help open up a storefront for their Green Dreams project. Green Dreams provides hands-on training and employment to individuals with developmental disabilities. They grow and tend to plants and make candy bouquets and garden accessories, all of which will be sold in the new storefront.
To date, more than $57,500 and 1,300 student hours have been invested in the Licking County community by DVP. Other organizations DVP has partnered with include Newark’s Look Up Center, the Licking County Humane Society, Licking County Coalition for Housing and Pathways of Central Ohio, among others.
“I have worked in a nonprofit before so I’ve been on the writing side of grants, it’s interesting to see the giving side of the grant,” said DVP member Serena Allegro ‘19.
Grants for the Denison Venture Philanthropy program are mostly funded through the generosity of David Kuhns, a member of the Denison class of 1968. In 2008 Kuhns challenged Denison students to organize an effort based around philanthropy – but one that also required an investment of student time as well as dollars. DVP creates strong ties between the college and the community and offers students experience with real-world issues.