As sixth-graders in 2019, a group of friends learned the importance of community, service and giving back–and thus Youth Philanthropy Council (YPC) was founded in San Diego. Today, the now-high schoolers have raised for than $2 million to help provide their community with basic necessities, like shoes and healthcare. Here, Augustus Holm, chairman of YPC, discusses what prompted the start of California’s largest kid-run nonprofit, how readers can help, and what world record YPC is about to break.
What is the mission of the Youth Philanthropy Council? YPC’s mission is to help break the poverty cycle by providing access to basic necessities such as healthcare and education. At our core we’re all about kids helping kids. We believe that no matter somebody’s age or background, anybody can make a difference simply through the power of their voice.
What prompted the start of Youth Philanthropy Council? Our journey began in 2018 when we first worked with San Ysidro Health in elementary school. Our sixth-grade class raised funds to help build a new exam room at San Ysidro Health’s Maternal & Child Health Center. That experience taught us that we could make a difference no matter how old we are, filled our hearts with passion, and inspired us to take action which led to the birth of the Youth Philanthropy Council. As impressionable 11-year-olds, we gathered with friends and began imagining ways in which we could be of service and help the children of San Diego. In 2019, we worked evenings and weekends over the course of eight months, and managed to raise over $230,000 in cash donations, table sales, and auction donations for San Ysidro Health’s 50th Anniversary Gala. Since then we’ve raised $2.8 million in donation revenue.
What is the greatest reward in being involved with the Youth Philanthropy Council? The greatest reward that comes from my involvement with YPC is getting to see the tangible effect you can have on someone’s life. Knowing you made a child genuinely smile is a feeling no amount of money can buy. The reward is being able to see the power one has to be able to influence their community for the better.
What is the biggest challenge it faces? A good friend of mine once described himself as kind of ambitious and a little naive. And honestly, I can’t think of a better way to describe our youth. We’re naive enough to believe that we can do anything, but ambitious enough to want to do everything. Many adults view today’s youth as inexperienced and irresponsible, they view a lack of experience in youth as a liability, something that should be worrying; when in reality it’s an asset. When you’re young, you exist in a gray area between fantasy and reality, and that gray area is where innovation thrives. Because since we don’t know any better, anything becomes possible.
What are your goals for the remainder of the year? YPC has two major projects coming up. The first being our annual Saint Nick’s Kicks event which is a shoe give away. We’ve already collected over 20,000 brand new pairs of shoes and will be breaking the world record for the most amount of shoes donated in a 24 hour period. Additionally, we are launching a social innovation competition, called Nexus, for young innovators with the 1st place winner being eligible to win up to $10,000 in cash and prizes.
How can readers help? YPC currently has a car sweepstakes that will be ending at the end of August. Any readers that’d like to support us please visit our website (ypc.care), and you’ll see an option to join the sweepstakes. Also feel free to reach out on our website if you’d like to help in an alternative way.
Does YPC have any events or fundraisers on the horizon? Yes, YPC is reaching out to corporate sponsors for the Nexus Social Innovation Competition and reaching out to venues that’d like to host our world record-breaking shoe giveaway.