No proposal required: These local youth-serving grantees were recommended by Rite Aid employees

Stocking stuffers came early for 14 local youth-serving agencies in Philadelphia. Rite Aid Healthy Futures awarded them $10,000 each to help provide support for the health and wellness challenges facing city youth.

‘Tis even better that the money is free of restrictions, allowing the organizations to spend as they see fit.

These are the first set of grants offered by Rite Aid Healthy Futures, a rebranding of the 20-year-old Rite Aid Foundation. The grants are part of the charity’s signature initiative — Empowering Children — which is intended to help grantees combat the ill-effects of the pandemic.

“All of them are trying to provide a sense of belonging and joy for children going through significant challenges,” said Matthew DeCamara, the charity’s executive director. He added each organization’s work also addresses racial inequities and health disparities by serving diverse, low-income communities — a key goal of Rite Aid Healthy Futures.

The grant recipients were not selected by a request for proposal but recommended by Rite Aid employees. “The staff identifies organizations as doing great work,” DeCamara said.

Thomas Quinn, president of HMS School for Children with Cerebral Palsy in West Philadelphia, said they will be using their grant “to support our expressive arts program where our students receive instruction in music, visual arts, and drama.”

Attic Youth Center executive director Jasper Liem plans to use the grant for the life skills center, which provides after-school programming, dinner, housing referrals, and a safe space for LGBTQ youth ages 13 to 24.

And Mighty Writers will spend half to support its free food distributions at its various sites, while the other half will support free writing programs.

The Rite Aid Corporation operates 2,350 stores, 223 in the Philadelphia region. A total of $4 million was awarded to 415 nonprofits throughout the company’s 17-state footprint. The money comes from the company’s KidCents fund-raising program, which allows customers to round up their store purchases. KidCents, which started in 2013, raises more than $12 million per year for Healthy Futures. All KidCents grant recipients serve low-income, diverse populations.

One of the most significant benefits of the Healthy Futures grant is the lack of strings.

A 2020 report from the Center for Effective Philanthropy found that funders providing general operating support as opposed to funding a specific program enhance a nonprofit’s ability to plan, focus on staff development, and do the work of their missions.

“Generating operating funding is so key. No one wants to fund you to pay the utilities to keep the lights on,” Liem said.

The rise in gun violence and stress of the pandemic have wreaked havoc on children’s lives. “We continue to see the harsh realities of inequities and heath disparities affecting children through hunger, homelessness, poverty, and a growing mental health crisis,” DeCamara said.

“The most significant need at the moment is emotional support for the kids we serve,” said Tim Whitaker, executive director of Mighty Writers. “That can come in the way of providing healthy meals and snacks on a regular basis to making sure mental health and anti-violence resources are available to the kids and their families.”

One in five children in Philadelphia will lose a parent or sibling by the time they reach 25 years of age, according to the Uplift Center for Grieving Children, another grant recipient. The center provides free grief support services to youth and runs Philly HopeLine, which connects grieving youth to support and counseling as well as offers dedicated service hours for Spanish speakers and LGBTQ youth.

The Philadelphia-based Rite Aid Healthy Futures grant recipients are: