HWS News
23 July 2025 • Alums • Service A Lesson in Impact: Gantcher Gift Fuels Student-Led Philanthropy
Made possible by a grant from the Gantcher Family Foundation, students donate $25,000 to local organizations.
Students in “Nonprofits, Philanthropy and Giving” were given a significant responsibility this semester. At the end of 13 weeks, the class would have to decide how to allocate $20,000 in real grant funding provided by Mike ’92 and Christina Gantcher P'27 and the Gantcher Family Foundation.
Moved by the students’ passion and the community’s need, donors Mike and Christina increased the class’ budget midsemester by $5,000, bringing their total giving for the project to $25,000.
“We thought this class fit so well with the mission of HWS—to provide real-world experiences that shape thoughtful, engaged citizens,” says Mike Gantcher. “Philanthropy was something I was lucky to grow up with, and being able to help instill that in young adults is an amazing feeling. We increased our support when we saw the students’ hard work and the level of need in the community. We hope that this experience sparks a lifelong appreciation for philanthropy.”
The course, co-taught by President Mark D. Gearan and Executive Director of Leadership and Community Engagement and Centennial Center for Leadership Katie Flowers, asked students to think deeply about the responsibility that comes with philanthropy. Over several months, they examined the ethics, logistics and potential impact of charitable giving, ultimately tasked with selecting organizations to fund.
Mike ’92 and Christina Gantcher P'27 address the class and grant recipients. 
Ultimately, the class focused on a singular theme: Geneva’s children. With the goal of thinking holistically about how to support youth development, the class identified four local nonprofits.
They awarded:
$10,000 to Success for Geneva’s Children, in support of a new financial empowerment pilot program.
$7,000 to Epic Zone/Ontario County Youth Court, which provides after-school programming.
$4,500 to Dove Block Project, a revitalized downtown space that offers arts and enrichment programs for all ages.
$3,500 to Literacy Volunteers of Ontario/Yates County, whose work supports literacy for adult learners.
To make their decision, students researched local need, made site visits and reviewed more than $200,000 of requests in grant proposals. On decision day, students shut the doors of their Coxe 1 classroom and advocated for the organizations they felt could make the most impact.
“I think we understood as a class that if you help children thrive, that success and that investment reverberates throughout the community,” says Cori Bohan ’27.
“We wanted to think about youth development holistically. We were impressed by several organizations that showed us how their programs surrounding adult literacy and financial planning have real potential for intervention,” says Ariana Angus ’25.
Executive Director of Literacy Volunteers for Ontario/ Yates Liz Searle says research shows that parents' literacy proficiency has a major impact on children’s future academic success. The organization plans to use its grant to update testing materials.
“This grant is tremendously helpful to our small nonprofit,” Searle says. “I really enjoyed working with the HWS students. Their thoughtful engagement showed how invested they were in understanding the roles nonprofits play in a strong and vibrant community.”
Two nonprofits noted in their proposals that the HWS grant could help them secure matching funds. For students, this matching opportunity felt like a compelling way to maximize the impact of the $25,000.
“We wanted to consider the longevity of the gift. From that perspective, organizations that could leverage our gift into matching opportunities were appealing,” says Samantha Goldburg ’25.
Jane Gerling, board member for Success for Geneva’s Children, says the negative effects of poverty continue to create obstacles for families in Geneva. “We are thrilled that our proposal was chosen. This will allow us to take steps to start savings accounts for all children in Geneva. This will also help attract other funding due to the students’ vote of confidence. We are deeply grateful.”
Tytus Felbor ’25 reflected on how this class built a bridge between HWS and the City of Geneva. “We’re so lucky. Not many students get the opportunity to do this in college. To be a part of the process and to look behind the curtain of charitable giving, it’s just a memorable experience,” Felbor adds.
Jack Sherwood ’27 agrees. “This class gave me a sense of the gravity of the situation. Every nonprofit communicated to us its very real need for funds. It’s one thing to read about how nonprofits are funded, and what percentage of their budgets are spent on overhead or programming, it’s another to speak to people directly and learn about their goals and challenges.”
Students presented checks to the four organizations as part of a ceremony held on HWS Day, April 23.
“We are so appreciative of this grant. With the funding received, we can provide services to more youth, bringing our daily average to 21 youth served per day. That is 21 youth per day with a safe place to go after school,” Director of Youth Programs at Epic Zone Tina Rossman says.
Kathryn Vaughn P’08, co-chair of the Dove Block Project Board of Directors, says all of the programming at The Dove is free to participants. Vaughn thanked the HWS students for encouraging the Dove Block to invest the grant in equipment. “We rely upon donations, memberships, sponsorships and grants. This grant will help us purchase equipment and supplies for printmaking, fiber arts, painting and drawing workshops, as well as filmmaking and photography. We hope to use part of this grant to move forward into technology for new workshops.”
In the photograph above, Mike and Christina Gantcher join President Mark D. Gearan, Katie Flowers, students in the course and grant recipients for the check presentation.
