Grant Money Yields FL Community Service Review Web Site’s Expansion
Fort Lauderdale, FL – January 20, 2009 –After 30 days of grassroots initiatives, text messages, and online voting, The Opp-Guide, an online resource for community service activities within the South Florida tri-county area, has been chosen as one of the fifteen Youth Venture Teams that will receive $10,000 from the @15 fund in the Best Buy @15 Challenge with Youth Venture. The Opp-Guide is a teen-run non profit initiative that encourages other local teens to get involved in their communities. As the only winner in Florida, The Opp-Guide hopes to use this award to expand its Spanish Web site and to allow for outreach to other communities.
“We are incredibly excited about the designation as one of the @15 Challenge winners,” said Wendi Oppenheim, The Opp-Guide President and Co-Founder. “The goal of the Opp-Guide is to encourage teens to get involved and stay involved in their communities even though most teens’ volunteer motivation is initially to fulfill their school’s service requirement. The Opp-Guide, written for teens by teens, offers information about local volunteer opportunities with truthful and informative reviews which, in turn, help students choose a service experience for themselves.”
Comparable to Zagat or Yelp, The Opp-Guide is a Web site where teens submit reviews of their volunteer experiences with local nonprofits and charities. The @15 Challenge featured a number of socially responsible programs designed by 30 young social entrepreneurs from around the country.
“We look forward to allocating these funds to the development of our Web presence,” said Oppenheim. “The response we’ve had from our site has made a tremendous effect on getting South Florida teens involved with an experience they enjoy and we’re excited to hopefully start Opp-Guide chapters in other areas of the country.”
The Opp-Guide has proven an innovative way to get teens involved in community service by helping them pinpoint opportunities that tap into their passion and skills. Opp-Guide users have submitted reviews on organizations ranging from the Boys and Girls Club of America to local soup kitchens. The user-generated-content aspect of the site lets teens share their opinions about community service experiences.
Read the letter from Member of Congress, Alcee Hastings
Read the letter from Youth Venture Manager, Spectra Myers
About The Opp-Guide
The Opp-Guide to Community Service in Broward County was
designed to help teens find community service ideas based
on their interests. Providing reviews of various community
service organizations in greater Fort Lauderdale, FL, The
Opp-Guide is written specifically by teens for teens. The
reviews are honest, candid and help fill the missing link
between actually enjoying volunteering and only being there
for the credit.
Media Contact:
Lisa Buyer
954-354-1411 x 14
lbuyer@thebuyergroup.com |
