Spence seniors awarded a $2,500 grant to Project Morry, a program that provides academic and emotional support to students year-round.

 

Earlier this year, seniors took a class called Giving Back and Making a Difference with Director of Outreach and Public Purpose Danielle Passno and were tasked with researching and awarding a grant to a charitable organization of their choice. This annual project was made possible through the Sloan Lindemann ’85 and Roger Barnett Philanthropy Fund, established in 2005, which gives seniors an opportunity to explore the world of philanthropy and award a grant to a nonprofit organization in New York City.

 

After evaluating numerous proposals, seniors chose Project Morry, which was established in honor of Morry Stein, a man who believed in the positive, long-term impacts camp can have on young people’s lives.

 

“His goal was to give all American children, regardless of economic status, the invaluable gift of summer camp and a consistent year-round program. Morry was working on achieving this goal when his life was taken in a plane crash in 1994,” Project Morry’s website states.

 

Project Morry’s program starts in Grade 4 and ends in Grade 12. In the summer, Morry’s Camp offers a chance for kids to create new relationships with friends and mentors, while having fun with traditional camp activities and participating in educational programs. Then, throughout the year, students meet with their Project Morry team for academic and emotional support; 98 percent of its students graduate from high school and 85 percent attend college.

 

Seniors Gabrielle J. and Aruna P. explained at the May 2, 2017, Upper School Gathering that the grant will support Project Morry’s college readiness program. The money will help buy standardized testing books and college guides, hire facilitators to host workshops on college readiness, hold an essay writing series and take students on college tours.

 

About 90 percent of the program participants in New York City will be able to participate in at least five meetings during the school year, and seniors and juniors will be able to take approximately six college tours.

 

“On a personal level, our grade—having just gone through the college process—has realized how difficult it can be to navigate and how much resources and a support system can help make that process easier,” Aruna said.

 

Executive Director Dawn Ewing was welcomed to the podium to say a few words about what it means to receive the grant from Spence. 

 

“There’s a wonderful concept called ‘network of support,’” Ewing said. “It means you have people who care about you, who challenge you, who take care of you; people who ask you to be the best self that you can be.”

 

Ewing said she likes herself best when she’s at camp because people are constantly asking her to do her best, and her kids, when they’re at camp too, get to be their best selves. However, when kids are away from camp, sometimes their networks of support can be a little more challenging. Project Morry provides these students with networks of support year-round with people from the five boroughs and beyond, including Long Island, Westchester and Connecticut. Ewing added that as the students graduate from Project Morry, they become networks of support for others in a ripple effect.

 

“This [grant] is going to do something really cool,” Ewing said. “It’s going to allow my kids to reach beyond their own dreams. They’re going to college. They’re reaching those opportunities they might have only dreamed of, but now that’s their reality. And you’ve made that happen.”