Berkeley wins Capital G 'Youth Give' 2011

MONDAY, DEC. 19: Capital G is pleased to announce the winner of its 2011 Youth Give Initiative as The Berkeley Institute and their partner charity The Chewstick Foundation. The Berkeley Institute team competed against two other school teams to win a total of $12,500 of which $10,000 is to be donated to their partner charity while the remaining $2,500 can be used for any school initiative of the team’s choosing.

The announcement was made at the Youth Give Awards luncheon held on Thursday at the Elbow Beach Hotel following the teams’ final presentations in front of a panel of judges.

The two additional school teams which rose to the challenge of the Youth Give initiative this year and competed for the first place award were Mount St. Agnes Academy, which partnered with the Salvation Army, and Saltus, which partnered with PALS. Both school teams were awarded of special prize of $2,500 each to benefit their partner charity.

Capital G’s Youth Give initiative was launched in 2009. The project is designed to empower Bermuda’s youth to ‘Give Back’ and develop awareness of the need to create a sustainable giving community across generations.

The competing Youth Give teams were required to demonstrate a clear and comprehensive ‘giving plan’ by identifying the target group they wanted to support, addressing their charitable focus and providing the measurable objectives and anticipated outcomes of their giving plan in both written and presentation form.

James Gibbons, Chairman, Capital G Bank Limited said it was a great pleasure for him to see the energy, commitment and sincerity that the students had invested in their Youth Give projects this year. 

He said of the winning Berkeley Institute team: “Your plan truly has room to expand for years to come. You have proved amongst your school peers that the ‘open mic’ performance idea you presented in partnership with Chewstick helped your peers to discover hidden talent they didn’t know they possessed. You were able to convey the joy they felt when their talent and ability was recognized by the school faculty and principal. Their experience gave them a new voice, and they feel empowered by it.”

Capital G Youth Give school and charity teams are as follows:

First Place - The Berkeley Institute $2,500 – The Chewstick Foundation $10,000

Second Place - Mount Saint Agnes Academy – The Salvation Army $2,500

Third Place - Saltus Grammar School – PALS $2,500

Youth Give judges were:

James Gibbons, chairman, Capital G Bank Limited

Diallo Rabain, Senator  & Junior Education Minister, Bermuda Ministry of Education

Pam Barit-Nolan, executive director, Centre on Philanthropy

Michael DeCouto, SVP, Marketing, Capital G Limited