You can learn a lot while giving away thousands of dollars.

Especially if you are still in high school.

For the past dozen years, Voices: The Chicago Jewish Teen Foundation has been teaching high school students the ins and outs of philanthropy. The Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago program hands them $25,000 and puts them in full control of their own charitable foundation.

In the process of raising additional funds and figuring out what to do with the money, the teens’ eyes are opened to needs they never imagined, even as they are confronted with the kinds of decision-making and challenges that build leaders.

This year’s cohort of 25 students from throughout the Chicago area just announced $32,735 in grants to seven local and international programs and organizations. A second group, made up of alumni from previous years, awarded an additional $29,825 to six such efforts – bringing the year’s total to $62,560.

Over the life of the program, nearly 300 teens in Voices have allocated more than $450,000.

“Voices is a truly incredible program,” said Quincy Hirt, part of the alumni group and a junior at Whitney M. Young Magnet High School. “Through working with a great group, learning from an amazing teacher, and granting large amounts of real money, Voices teaches the students not only how to give money away, but how to do it strategically, benefiting from our group dynamic to address our objectives.

“This is key to philanthropy,” the Lincoln Park resident said. “The Voices participants spend their whole year making sure their money goes to great organizations that do great work in communities where there is a need.”

In the program’s initial group, the Voices 101 Foundation, team members conduct community needs research, perform due diligence, write grant guidelines and Requests for Proposals, analyze the proposals, take part in site visits, and learn to advocate, negotiate and collaborate with each other to make strategic allocations.

The following year, the teens have the option to participate in the Voices Alumni Foundation, where they translate what they’ve learned into more specialized and focused philanthropic work and mentor the Voices 101 teens. Alumni raise all the dollars they award, which this year was matched by JUF.

“Voices is not just about dollars and cents,” program director Stephanie Goldfarb said. “It’s about providing the skills and resources to help our young people find not only their social justice passion, but their power to affect real change.”

This year’s Voices grant recipients are:

Voices 101 Foundation 2016 Grants (Total: $32,735)

Children of Peace, Creativity for Peace Project, $5,000

Children of Peace is a non-partisan children’s charity in Israel dedicated to building trust, friendship and reconciliation between Israeli and Palestinian children, ages 4-17, and their communities. The Creativity for Peace Project trains Israeli and Palestinian girls to coordinate their own peace-keeping projects through social entrepreneurship.

Nirim, Wilderness Therapy Program, $7,000

Since 2003, Nirim has provided Israeli youth at high risk an opportunity – in many cases, their last – to overcome their harsh life circumstances, discover their strengths, and become self-confident and successful members of society. Wilderness Therapy is a key rehabilitative component, pivotal to their success. Teen participants learn to work as a team to achieve personal and mutual physical and psychological goals.

Response, Gendernauts, $8,000

Response, a Jewish Child & Family Services resource center in the northern suburbs, supports adolescents and their families in the Jewish and general community by providing prevention, outreach, counseling and sexual health services in a teen-friendly environment that empowers youth to make healthy life choices. The Gendernauts program will bring together transgender, gender-creative and gender-exploring youth in a safe place to share their common struggles with gender variance, talk about accomplishments in self-expression, and work on improving self-esteem and building resilience in a world that tends to stigmatize them.

CJE, Home Delivered Meals Program , $5,580

CJE SeniorLife enhances the lives of Chicago area older adults and their families through a comprehensive network that offers housing, health care, community services, health and wellness education, life enrichment programs and applied research. The Home Delivered Meals Program provides hot kosher meals for older adults who are unable to shop and/or prepare food.

Jewish Community Center of Chicago, J at School, $3,155

This Voices grant will provide scholarship assistance so low-income children in Chicago Public Schools will have access to quality educational and personal growth experiences in J at School’s After-School Enrichment programs.

Keshet, Inclusion Specialist at Congregation BJBE, $3,000

Keshet, the premier provider of educational, recreational, vocational and social programs for individuals with intellectual disabilities operating according to traditional Jewish values in Chicago, is working with Congregation BJBE in Deerfield to help Sunday school students with disabilities participate more fully in its programs. Hiring a professional Inclusion Specialist is the key to this partnership.

Jewish United Fund, Annual Campaign , $1,000

The JUF Annual Campaign focuses on helping people in need, rescuing people in danger, and keeping Jewish life strong. Voices dollars will go to JUF programs that care for 300,000 Chicagoans of all faiths, and 2 million Jews in Israel and around the world.

Voices Alumni Foundation 2016 Grants (Total: $29,825)

The Ark, Sarnoff Levin Residence Health Center, $5,000

The ARK provides a broad array of medical, social, and legal services to 3,700 low-income Chicago area Jews each year. All services are provided free of charge. The Sarnoff Levin Residence, Health Center, and Social Services departments provide short-term housing; medical, dental and optometry care and prescription medications; and clothing for low-income Jewish clients.

Jewish Vocational Service, Customized Employment Services Program, $7,500

JVS improves life through employment and productivity, recognizing that personal development is a lifetime endeavor. JVS’s Customized Employment Services Program offers targeted vocational services to Chicago-area Jewish youth and adults with disabilities, ages 18 and older.

EZRA, JUF Uptown Café and Food Pantry, $3,600

EZRA’s services strive to alleviate homelessness, hunger, unemployment and other self-sufficiency barriers. In addition, EZRA offers social activities and holiday celebrations to ensure that Jews who live in poverty remain actively connected to their heritage. The JUFUptown Café and Food Pantry programs, based in Uptown, help feed hundreds of community members a year, regardless of faith or ability to pay.

KAM Isaiah Israel, Reavis Elementary Math and Science School/Israel Food Justice and Sustainability Program , $6,225

KAM Isaiah Israel Congregation in Hyde Park has a long history of innovative social justice work. This program centers around sustainable land use, environmental degradation, and natural resource stewardship and conservation. It will provide environmental education to 3 ^rd , 4 ^th and 5 ^th grade students at CPS’s Reavis Elementary School in Kenwood.

SHALVA, Project Hope Discretionary Fund , $6,500

SHALVA’s mission is to address domestic abuse in Chicago-area Jewish homes and relationships through counseling and education. The Project Hope Discretionary Fund offers direct financial aid to clients who leave their abusive home and are in emergency situations.

JUF, Annual Campaign , $1,000

The JUF Annual Campaign focuses on helping people in need, rescuing people in danger, and keeping Jewish life strong. Voices dollars will go to JUF programs that care for 300,000 Chicagoans of all faiths, and 2 million Jews in Israel and around the world.

For more information about the Voices program, please visithttp://www.juf.org/teens/voices.aspxor contact Stephanie Goldfarb at 312-444-2802 or[email protected].