NEW YORK | Chase Bank and Facebook announced today that Seeds of Peace is among 100 charities who will receive $25,000 grants from Chase Bank, and the opportunity to compete for an additional $1 million decided by vote through the popular social networking site Facebook.
The top 100 charities were selected during the first round of voting in the Chase Community Giving competition, which took place from November 15 to December 12. Over one million fans signed up to participate in Round One of the Chase Community Giving Competition. Seeds of Peace competed against hundreds of thousands of American 501(c)(3) charities with an operating budget of $10 million or less.
Leslie Lewin, Seeds of Peace’s Executive Director, was overwhelmed by the show of support for Seeds of Peace’s mission: to empower youth in areas of conflict to lift their communities out of the cycles of violence they are born into.
“This is evidence of how deep, broad and powerful our network of thousands of young people is around the world,” she said. “They possess an incredible potential to make positive and lasting change when they work together.
“We are thrilled to have won this first contest and excitedly planning for the next phase. The money won will go directly towards bringing teenagers from conflict regions in the Middle East and South Asia to the Camp in Maine to learn critical leadership and reconciliation skills.”
In Round Two of the Chase Community Giving competition, each of the 100 charities will submit their “Big Idea,” to the competition in an effort to garner increased support for their cause. Seeds of Peace has asked its network of leaders to share their “Big Ideas,” for the future to include in the organization’s submission.
“We believe in the power of the next generation to lead their communities,” Lewin said. “By letting our alumni lead us in is effort we testify to the importance of our program and its continued impact over time.”
In addition, the organization is setting its sights on invigorating its network to support its bid for the $1 million prize, for which voting will begin on January 15, 2010. Supporters are already being contacted to pledge their votes via the Seeds of Peace website at www.seedsofpeace.org.
See the full list of winners at JPMorgan Chase & Co. »