Sergeant Andrea D'Agostino turns her laptop around and walks the group of Taft students on Zoom through a virtual tour of the Police Activity League (PAL) program at Walsh Elementary School in Waterbury. This is her 18th year with the police department; she has been involved with PAL since 2007.

There are 30 kids in the after-school program, where they get healthy snacks, find homework help with Waterbury school teachers and tutors, do some organized games, and get a little energy out before they go home.

"As a nonprofit, we rely on grants and donations to run everything we run here," she explains to the Red Rhino Fund group. "PAL is little different from what other schools offer, and we can offer it longer, which helps kids and families."

PAL was one of six applicants for a grant from the Red Rhino Fund this year, and is a recipient this year. The Red Rhino Fund has supported PAL before, and Taft's connection with PAL goes back many years, explains faculty advisor Kevin Danaher.

When Taft students go on site visits like this (on Zoom for now), they get to see where the money goes, what it supports, and how it will make an impact.

"It's inspiring to see students lead the charge in this work, thoughtfully and with passion, while still balancing their other commitments on campus," says Amanda Pulawksi, who advises the group along with Danaher. "We had a second site visit, which was equally impressive. The Red Rhino Fund's work is the embodiment of Taft's motto: these students are actively serving their community by awarding grants and educating their peers on local organizations. And at the same time, they are gaining firsthand knowledge of what being a part of a functioning board means."

Service has long been an integral component of a Taft education—whether that meant running a summer camp for underprivileged youth in the 1920s, participating in a community service project with the team at season's end, tutoring at a local elementary school through the Volunteer Program, or one of the myriad other ways the Taft community has created to support its neighbors in the greater Waterbury area.

But in an age when service has become an expected and conventional component of the college résumé, what unique skills and experiences can Taft offer students? Not every graduate will choose a nonprofit career, but getting involved in philanthropy can be a way to still pay it forward.

A large number of Taft alums have chosen careers that allow them to serve, to give back in direct and meaningful ways. But they and many others besides also give their time to nonprofit groups. Wouldn't it be useful then, for students to better understand the grant process—whether they find themselves applying for them or working with foundations to distribute them?

"Nonprofits do not work, could not exist," says Head of School Willy MacMullen '78, "without philanthropy, without the generosity of others. The Red Rhino Fund embodies all that we believe in, and that is the notion of giving back."

Skyler Serenbetz '09, the fund's founder and first president, was always interested in nonprofits. It was something she learned from her grandparents, sitting in on board meetings for the family foundation even as a child and serving on the benevolence committee herself while a student at Taft.

"I admired both of my grandparents a lot," she says. "They had a huge influence on me."

Working with them on the board for the family foundation, she learned the importance of investing money so an endowment can grow and have a greater impact over time. So when she arrived at Taft in 2007, she proposed a new philanthropy club.

"I wanted to teach more people how to do this," Serenbetz says. "It fit the Taft motto so well."

She found other interested students, and they reached out to parents and friends, asking for cash donations to start the endowment, supplemented by student fundraising efforts.

That club quickly formalized into the Red Rhino Foundation, electing officers and adopting a mission statement, bylaws, and articles of incorporation.

The group works to create positive change in the greater Waterbury community for children by awarding nominal monetary grants and promoting local organizations in support of education, literacy, and the arts.

"The fund is managed with the rest of Taft's endowment," explains Danaher. "The income from that makes up about half of the funds we distribute each year." When they exceed their planned fundraising goals for the year, he says, any surplus is added back to the endowment. Additionally, the endowed fund still receives direct donations.

One way students learn about the RRF is the annual School Meeting at which grants are awarded to the local nonprofits. In 2020, then president Hartley Messer '20 praised the collaborative nature of the group when she stood at the podium to introduce her fellow board members.

"Serving on this board," Messer says, "has illustrated the impact that diverse perspectives—that engage and listen to each other with interest, respect, and empathy—can have. The board has sparked a genuine interest in philanthropy for me and is a leadership role I would encourage all underclassmen to consider applying for."

In addition to raising money, officers learn nonprofit best practices during meetings, and they document their discussions, actions, and votes. They research and engage with local program leaders to ensure their missions are in line with RRF's.

There are officers who spearhead the marketing and fundraising efforts—finding vendors and designing merchandise to sell and promoting events like denim days, Fall Festival, and a badminton tournament. Pre-pandemic, their largest fundraiser was the Spring Fling at the Watertown Golf Club.

"I would say the most significant challenge has been the transition out of 'COVID Taft,'" says Nominating and Governance Chair Co-Chair Mackenzie Kloss '23. "We've been trying to bring back old traditions like Spring Fling that couldn't exist for the past year or two."

The Fall Festival is the event that Kloss is most proud of. "It was my first real event on the board," she says, "and was when I first started to understand the dynamic and how each member, no matter their position, has a role in each event. I remember the meetings leading up to it were stressful yet exciting. Seeing it all come together and go perfectly was a fantastic feeling."

There have been surprises, too. Red Rhino Fund holiday cards are an annual initiative, but Kloss says the group decided to use the cards as an additional way to educate more people about the RRF and bring in support from constituents who were not previously aware of the fund's work.

Savannah Love '21 was always involved in the Community Service Program while at Taft. Often she would choose to volunteer at programs that received grants from the Red Rhino Fund.

"Having hands-on experience and seeing where the grants went definitely encouraged our fundraising efforts and left me with a great feeling," says Love, now at Middlebury College, who was also a school monitor, GLI Scholar, and part of the MOSAIC affinity group.

She says she applied to the Red Rhino Fund because she wanted the opportunity to work with community organizations and have her "foot in the door of the real world."

"One goal of the fund is childhood literacy," she explains, "and for me, that hit close to home. My mother for many years worked in education and even after she left the field she instilled into my brother and me the importance of reading. So to be able to provide grants to organizations that bridged the gap of inequality in access to education was something that I definitely wanted to be a part of."

For day student Steve Mayer '22, joining the RRF was about staying engaged with the community in which he was raised and fitting into his new community at Taft.

"I was not sure where the two communities intersected," says Mayer, who serves as president of the fund this year and also sings with the Oriocos and plays varsity football and baseball.

"To directly see a group of students at the school having such a positive impact on the education of others in the local area was simply awe-inspiring, and I knew I wanted to be a part of the group," he says.

He points to the impact these grants have on the community.

"We partner with amazing organizations that truly have the community's best interests at heart and strive for change," he says. While many recipient groups focus on younger kids, he is particularly excited about Waterbury Youth Services, which offers an after school-program and tutoring for high school students.

"It is my first time on the board that we expanded our outreach to kids similar in age to me," he says, "which is exciting because I feel like I can relate to them. Seeing the Red Rhino Fund's outreach grow and the ability for us to have a greater impact on the community has been such a satisfying experience."

In addition to a site visit, Waterbury Youth Services invited foundation members to an open house (before the pandemic) to learn about their programs, Danaher says. "We left just wowed by the work they do," he says.

"I have had so many blessings in my life," Mayer says. "Any way to give back to the community that I was raised in and love is truly an honor. It's a way for me to express my gratitude. I hope that the people that we help view Taft and the Red Rhino Fund as a community of students, faculty, and staff who care." j

Julie Reiff P'12 is a freelance writer and editor in Bethel, Maine, and the former editor of this magazine.

Red Rhino Fund

Officers/Trustees
2021–22

• President: Steve Mayer '22
• Vice President/Secretary: Sadie Kargman '22
• Treasurer: Townsend Vogt '23
• Grants Committee Chair: Maheen Ahmad '23
• Grants Committee Co-Chair: Elise Taylor '24
• Marketing Committee Chair: Finn Gateley '24
• Marketing Committee Co-Chair: Mackenzie Kloss '23
• Special Events Committee Chair: Max Keller '22
• Special Events Committee Co-Chair: Figo Wang '23
• Diversity Committee Chair: Figo Wang '23
• Diversity Committee Co-Chair: Elise Taylor '24
• Nominating and Governance Chair: Mackenzie Kloss '23
• Advisors: Mr. Danaher, Mrs. Pulawski

Red Rhino Fund

Founded in 2007, the Red Rhino Fund is an endowed, charitable fund run by a nine-member student board with faculty advisors. At its core, the fund's mission is an extension of the school motto, Not to be served but to serve. The group works to create positive change in the greater Waterbury community for children, by awarding nominal monetary grants and promoting local organizations in support of education, literacy, and the arts. Along the way, Taft students gain solid perspectives on the importance of philanthropic work, and develop fundamental knowledge, understanding, and skills to continue philanthropic, nonprofit work later in life.

The board is charged with learning about not-for-profit trusteeship, growing the endowment through new and innovative fundraising initiatives, creating marketing strategies, and awarding grants to community organizations. Board membership is determined through a competitive application and interview process.