The Glick Fund awards more than $48,000 to KIB to employ Indy’s youth

INDIANAPOLIS - (December 12, 2011) Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, Inc. (KIB) announced today that The Glick Fund, a fund of Central Indiana Community Foundation, has awarded KIB a $48,470 grant to engage Indianapolis youth in KIB’s Youth Tree Team program.

The Youth Tree Team consists of teams of high school youth who will work together throughout the summer, watering and maintaining trees that KIB plants all over Indianapolis. Last year, youth in this program cared for more than 4,000 trees, ensuring summer employment for Indianapolis youth and healthy trees for the community.

“The Youth Tree Team program provides a safe, meaningful employment opportunity for our city’s youth, with a focus on teaching broad leadership and teamwork skills as well as specific and marketable horticultural skills,” said David Forsell, president of Keep Indianapolis Beautiful. “The Youth Tree Team program is unique in that it directly benefits at-risk youth while preserving the environment.”

In addition to their daily work, Youth Tree Team members also explore careers in the “green sector” by meeting with and learning from professional landscapers, arborists, park managers, and environmental educators. Students gain life skills that will carry them beyond what for many is their first job, such as time management and goal setting, and they learn respect for their peers along the way.

KIB is grateful for the generous support of The Glick Fund, a fund of Central Indiana Community Foundation. For more information about the Youth Tree Team, please visit www.kibi.org/youth_tree_team.

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About Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, Inc. (KIB)
Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, Inc. is a private, nonprofit organization that unites people to build community and transform public spaces through aesthetic and environmental improvement. In 2011, KIB worked with nearly 40,000 volunteers on more than 500 community projects. To learn more, visit www.kibi.org and follow us on Twitter @kibiorg and like us on Facebook @kibiorg.

About The Glick Fund:
The Glick Fund is a donor-advised fund of the Central Indiana Community Foundation. It was established by Eugene and Marilyn Glick in 1998 to support a variety of causes. Grants are awarded by invitation only, with no unsolicited grant applications accepted.

The Glick Fund also strives to align with CICF’s three broader community leadership initiatives of: Family Success & Making Connections; Inspiring Places; and College Readiness & Success – initiatives aimed at making central Indiana one of the best places in the nation to live, work and raise a family.

To date, The Glick Fund has awarded over $30 million in grants to not-for-profit organizations. Recent grant recipients include the Indianapolis Cultural Trail, the Glick Center for Glass at Ball State University, Heartland Truly Moving Pictures, the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana Authors Award, Providence Cristo Rey High School and United Way of Central Indiana, among many other organizations. For more information, please visit www.cicf.org.

About Central Indiana Community Foundation (CICF):
Central Indiana Community Foundation (CICF) is a $585 million public foundation transforming the lives of central Indiana residents in three ways: consulting donors, family foundations and their professional advisors on charitable giving; awarding grants to effective not-for-profit organizations; and providing leadership to address community needs and seize opportunities. CICF was established in 1997 as a partnership between The Indianapolis Foundation, serving Marion County since 1916, and Legacy Fund, serving Hamilton County since 1991.

For more information about CICF, contact Mike Knight at 317.634.2423 or mikek@cicf.org, or visit cicf.org.