| Make a Difference |
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“Steer Straight is pleased to announce we are partnering with the Make The DASH Count Foundation (MTDCF). We are teaming up to drive teens to think before getting behind the wheel. MTDCF is a non-profit dedicated to educating and empowering teens through youth philanthropy while helping kids "at risk." A portion of Steer Straight, Inc. after tax proceeds will go to funding MTDCF's charitable efforts.” Make the DASH Count Foundation
The time commitment required of youth board members is significant. The granting cycle begins in August each year and ends when the grants are announced in May. Yet many board members return year after year, deeply committed to addressing the needs they see in their own communities. And therein lies perhaps the most significant long-term impact of the Make the DASH Count Foundation: investing in and creating future community and philanthropic leaders. For Hope Moore, founder of the Make the DASH Count Foundation, this investment in youth was always a major part of her vision for the foundation. In 2003, she was looking for a way to educate her son in the responsibilities of community leadership and charitable giving. Then she had an idea: If it was good for her own son to learn these things, wouldn’t it be even better to engage whole groups of young people in making these decisions? The Make the DASH Count Foundation’s youth boards were born. The first two youth boards convened, one in the South Puget Sound region of Washington State and one in Massachusetts, in 2005. By 2008, the foundation had grown to include five active youth boards, which had awarded $180,000 to deserving community programs serving at-risk youth. |
The Make the DASH Count Foundation believes in the power of youth to solve problems and effect positive change. The foundation operates through community based youth boards (five currently active) of approximately 15 high-school-aged youth. From the beginning, the foundation has given these youth boards all the responsibilities of a fully functioning board of directors: They go into their communities to identify the needs of their peers, solicit and evaluate grant requests, and award funds to various nonprofit groups seeking to address the needs of at-risk youth.
