This week, the 2019 Youth Philanthropy Interns debuted four radio documentaries they created during their seven-week exploration of civic engagement and community building. The documentaries tackled weighty topics, such as the challenges of the #metoo movement in rural areas, the importance of digital marketing for local companies, the status of a lawsuit to push for more school funding in Pennsylvania, and explanations for why young people sometimes lose faith in their hometowns. This year’s senior interns created two opinion pieces: “A Modest Proposal for Johnstown” and “Unraveling the Stigma Behind Modern Day Fraternities.”

Working with the team of radio storytellers from The Saturday Light Brigade, the interns spent a day at the SLB station in Pittsburgh before selecting topics that interest them and conducting interviews. This week, the SLB team members helped them edit and create their stories. On Thursday, the YPI teams held a radio release party at the Grand Halle on Broad Street in Johnstown’s Cambria City neighborhood.

Their stories are now part of the “Inclined to Care” series at SLB’s Neighborhood Voices website. Check them out by clicking here.

This is the seventh year for the Youth Philanthropy Intern program at Community Foundation for the Alleghenies. The Youth Philanthropy Internship is made possible by generous funding from The Heinz Endowments. The Heinz Endowments is devoted to the mission of helping our region prosper as a vibrant center of creativity, learning, and social, economic, and environmental sustainability. Core to the Endowments’ work is the vision of a just community where all are included and where everyone who calls southwestern Pennsylvania home has a real and meaningful opportunity to thrive.