IFYC Uses FBB Support to Spur Interfaith Projects on College Campuses
By Administrator
First-quarter Challenge the Gap beneficiary Interfaith Youth Core gave us this report about how they are using the funds contributed by members of Foundation Beyond Belief. Foundation members donated $2,490 to IFYC last quarter.
When people of diverse religious and nonreligious perspectives collaborate on initiatives that benefit their shared community, positive changes in attitude result. Religious diversity provides America with a great challenge and a great opportunity. Religious communities are a significant repository for social capital, inspiring volunteerism and community service that benefits the broader society. At Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC), we work to effectively bridge the social capital between diverse religious communities, including those who are nonreligious, thereby strengthening social cohesion and multiplying positive social capital.
Through the generosity of Foundation Beyond Belief and its membership, IFYC will expand its Better Together Campaign in the coming year. Better Together is an action-oriented campaign designed to mobilize college students across the country to elevate positive, civil discourse on religion and engage one another in service for the benefit of their communities. IFYC-trained student leaders will work with their peers to select a social issue relevant to their campus and surrounding community that engages their shared values. Together they will execute an awareness and service campaign challenging their community to think about what has happened as a result of religious diversity and what could happen if that diversity is consistently engaged in collective initiatives for the common good.
With the contribution from Foundation Beyond Belief and other benefactors, IFYC will double the number of student leaders it trains in the skills of interfaith leadership this year. We also expect to double the number of campuses involved in the Better Together Campaign from 75 campuses to at least 150. In an era of increasing intolerance and incivility, the visionary support of the nation’s leading human secularist foundation sends the clear and inspiring message that in America, we are truly better together.
Thank you for your generous support.
Warm regards,
Richard Van Hees
Vice President of Development
Interfaith Youth Core
Learn more about the Foundation’s Challenge the Gap program