An anonymous, $1 million donation to a Lexington nonprofit will help bolster local civic education.
That donation will start an endowment fund for CivicLex, a nonprofit focused on civic health. They’ll use it to fund their education programs in Fayette County high schools permanently.
“We'll talk about how local government's structured, how the city budget works. You know, how to best advocate for something you care about,” said Richard Young, CivicLex’s executive director.
Those programs include workshops, projects and career expos to get students more involved in local government. Young hopes the fund will allow those programs to be added to more local schools.
“It's sort of an arc over the whole year of trying to help students understand both the opportunity for them, but also the sort of responsibility of being an active and involved citizen in your community,” he said.
Local and state officials joined members of CivicLex and the Blue Grass Community Foundation at a press conference on Thursday. Secretary of State Michael Adams said healthy civics programs are essential for a healthy government.
“Those who mix civics and personal relationships tend to be the most civically engaged, but when interest in state and local government is low and subsumed by the national tribalism of cable news and social media, then regular people check out,” he said. “The gap in our politics is then filled by zealots and special interests.”
The endowment was described as a challenge grant, meaning CivicLex must raise another million dollars by the end of 2029 to access the fund. The Blue Grass Community Foundation will hold and invest that money in the meantime, with CivicLex getting the earnings.
