Check Your Genes Fund
Check Your Genes exists because we know a simple test can change lives, and not enough people know about it.
Approximately 10 percent of breast and ovarian cancer cases are hereditary, and for those with the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes, knowledge is power. Check Your Genes’ founder Nancy Romer received the news that she had late stage ovarian cancer at age 32. Her mother and her maternal aunt lost battles to breast cancer, but it wasn’t until after her diagnosis she learned she carried the hereditary cancer gene.
In order to make sure other families wouldn’t have to face the same situation, Nancy and her family started Check Your Genes in 2007. The mission is to educate others with a family history of breast or ovarian cancer about a simple blood test that can help them take proactive steps to prevent a cancer diagnosis later.
Increased awareness and improved education regarding the importance of family history to breast and ovarian cancer can save lives. We believe as more people understand the availability and utility of genetic testing, more people will use genetic counseling services and genetic testing with a goal of finding out if they have the gene prior to a cancer diagnosis. We aim to help and encourage the medical community to do more to educate people about the links between breast and ovarian cancer and heredity.
Nancy Romer lost her 8-year battle with ovarian cancer in December 2009. Check Your Genes will continue in her memory to make sure that others never have to face a cancer diagnosis because cancer is in their genes. The organization will fulfill its mission by raising funds to develop public outreach campaigns to build awareness of genetic testing for the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes.
Know your past ... to improve your future
To ensure that Fountain Square will always remain the heart and soul of Cincinnati, the Fountain Square Programming Fund has been created. The fund will enable diverse programming throughout the year to fill the Square with people. Activities and events bring people together and people bring life to the city.
Make a contribution to the Fountain Square Programming Fund
Helping Support Creative Philanthropy in Our Communities
See Jane Give was an initiative started in 2008 to increase charitable giving in Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky. Launched by a partnership between Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America and SOAR, a leadership development program for high potential young women, this effort encouraged members of SOAR to leverage seed money from Toyota into larger donations for nonprofit organizations. Organizers partnered with The Greater Cincinnati Foundation to establish the See Jane Give Fund.
Inspired by Oprah Winfrey’s history of motivating people to “give back” and "give big" to their communities, See Jane Give was developed to help a group of professional young women make a meaningful difference in our community. In 2009, Toyota gave $4,000 to the class to be used as seed money to grow into a significant donation through creative philanthropic projects.
Who Benefits
Dress for Success is the recipient of the See Jane Give award in the Cincinnati area. The organization was selected because of its mission to empower women to be successful in changing their lives and those of their families.
Our Success
Jane Gave Big! In its inaugural year, 2008, See Jane Give in Cincinnati grew its initial seed money to nearly $17,000. In addition more than 3,500 clothing items were collected and more than 200 attended a Happy Hour event to raise money and build awareness around Dress for Success.
How You Can Help
See below if you would like to make a secure online donation to the See Jane Give Fund of The Greater Cincinnati Foundation. Here are a few other ways you can show support:
- Commit to inviting and bringing 10 guests to the happy hour.
- Match Toyota's $4,000 contribution or award a smaller (or larger) company donation. Contact beth.gottfried@gmail.com
- Make an in-kind donation of clothing, shoes or purses to Dress for Success.
- Hold a Dress for Success collection (clothing, shoes or purses) in your workplace during May.
- Share program information/website addresses with your employees as a non-profit to consider.
- Contact Dress for Success to arrange a "lunch and learn" presentation at your workplace.
- Share information about Dress for Success with employees interested in volunteering>
- Devise a new and creative option to support See Jane Give.
Make a contribution to the See Jane Give Fund
One of the most important things we can do is to teach our children how to be generous, not only in spirit but in deed. How do we help those in need? How do we discern, within the constraints of our limited resources, who to help and who not to?
Magnified Giving’s Student Philanthropy Program seeks to address these questions. Begun by Cincinnati philanthropist Roger Grein, the Student Philanthropy Program awards money to area high school students, who then re-distribute that funding to area organizations that are addressing the needs of the community.
Students have a variety of ways of deciding where to invest the money. For instance, students in an English class may decide to support nonprofits addressing literacy needs of a community. Students passionate about supporting veterans may find organizations helping families who have loved ones oversees. Teens interested in the treatment of animals may give to a local shelter. In most cases, students are free to explore the social causes that touch their hearts, and in turn, are exposed to dozens of agencies and organizations in their community.
But what makes the Student Philanthropy Program unique is that while helping organizations ultimately get the money, the process through which they receive it allows young people to learn the ins and outs of philanthropy.
Students investigate the needs in their communities and which nonprofits are working to meet those needs. They then develop a competitive grant application process, invite these same nonprofits to apply, and then do the really tough work of deciding which among the nonprofits will receive funding.
Along the way, students not only learn the art of philanthropy, but also become familiar with the needs in their communities. Indeed, many students, after they have concluded their participation in the Student Philanthropy Program, have gone on either to volunteer in the community or to raise funds for the many worthwhile organizations they have come in contact with. These students have learned the joy of giving, and just as importantly, how best to give.
Twenty-two Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky high schools participate in the Student Philanthropy Program, including public and private schools from all over the region. Thousands of students have taken part. In turn, these students have touched the lives of thousands more in the community. Mount Notre Dame students, for instance, have given to over 15 charities and to the people these charities serve.
Money donated to the Magnified Giving’s Student Philanthropy Program ultimately goes to the community. But along the way, it introduces our children to the needs all around them – and how they can play a role in meeting those needs. Visit www.magnifiedgiving.org for more information.
Roger started the Student Philanthropy Program at area colleges and universities. It has now expanded to over 25 colleges throughout the Midwest. The high school program is in its fourth year and continues to grow at a tremendous pace.
If you would like to make a secure online donation to the Magnified Giving’s Student Philanthropy Program Fund of The Greater Cincinnati Foundation, please complete the form by clicking the link below.
Make a contribution to the Student Philanthropy Fund
The mission of the Acclaim Awards is to build audiences by identifying, celebrating and inspiring excellence in Cincinnati theater. This is done through awarding outstanding work; supporting a variety of initiatives for area theater artists and educators through our Granting programs which include: local Guest Equity Artist contracts, Theatre Educator Awards, Rising Stars Grants and the Theatre Forward showcase at the Aronoff Center; and by promoting all local theater with CinStages.com, a free performing arts Web site.
To make a secure contribution online to the Theatre Artists Project Fund of The Greater Cincinnati Foundation, please complete the form below.
Please be sure to specify if your gift is for support of the CinStages website.
Make a contribution to the Theatre Artists Project Fund