The Long Island chapter of The Awesome Foundation Long Island has been established in Port Washington. It’s a new community-
based organization designed to provide grants for local projects that bring a sense of “awesomeness” to
the community.
“Beginning this month, we are calling on local teenagers to submit proposals to get funding for projects that help enhance awesomeness in Port Washington,” said Jordan Gitlin, Port Washington resident and Long Island chapter president. “How many times have you or your kids asked, ‘Wouldn’t it be awesome if…?’ Well, now is their chance to bring that idea to fruition through this grant program. The program is going to be called ‘1+4=$1,000.’ Selected submissions will each have four minutes to present and convince the trustees that their awesome idea is worthy of a $1,000 grant.” Nominees will be notified on Monday, April 18.
Gitlin said, “There are so many terrific aspects of living in Port Washington and options to donate time and money. I wanted to find a way to give back to the community in a more direct manner that enables local residents to participate in the same way. I formed a group of fellow, like-minded trustees and we’re excited about our first community program, which will focus on local teenagers as the catalyst for awesomeness in Port Washington.”
All of the trustees are from Port Washington. Each of the trustees donates money monthly to the fund. All of the trustees review each proposal and vote on funding decisions. “There is no red tape and once we make a decision, we deliver the check to the applicant,” said Gitlin. There is no other external funding source. The Long Island Chapter has received 15 grant proposals so far. Every chapter interprets “awesome” for itself. As such, awesome projects include initiatives in a wide range of areas including arts, technology, community development and more. Many awesome projects are novel or experimental, and evoke surprise and delight.
In November, The Awesome Foundation Long Island chapter gave out two $1,000 grants. The first was given to We Connect the Dots in support of their International Back-to-School Hackathon. This technology program is designed to promote the importance of diversity and bridge the gap between communities, income levels and ethnicities.
“As a Long Island-based organization, having The Awesome Foundation as a supporter is a great way to show parents and students that we are all doing our part to invest in Long Island students and education,” said Stephen Sobierajski, program manager at We Connect
the Dots.
Another $1,000 grant was given to Project LETS, founded by a student from Long Island at Brown University. Project LETS exists to support students and young adults living with mental illness. It is a nonprofit organization dedicated to honest and open conversation surrounding mental health education, reform, advocacy and suicide prevention.
“We’re also thinking about doing several ‘1+4=$1,000’ over the course of next year that might target different groups, such as senior citizens, for example,” said Gitlin.
Submit your project to www.awesomefoundation.org/
en/submissions/new?chapter
=longisland.
