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Libby Rodenbough is proud of Guilford County high schools’ FIRST Robotics Team. Team members build robots that help younger students get excited about science at elementary schools, she said.

Rodenbough is even happier because, indirectly, she has a hand in the team’s activities. She is part of the Teen Grant Making Council of the Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro, which has helped fund the robotics team.

Rodenbough and other members of the council were among about 300 who attended Saturday’s third annual N.C. Youth Giving Summit at the Greensboro Marriott Downtown.

The Youth Giving Network is composed of about 16 youth philanthropy groups from across the state that came together to share ideas about how to improve their communities. The Charlotte-based training organization, Leading To Change, coordinates the network.

Through the network, teenagers’ philanthropic interests are developed, and they make critical decisions about how projects affecting their communities are funded.

Rodenbough said teens involved in the Youth Giving Network are not just providing funds, but also are enabling other teens to organize and make a difference in their communities.

“I would say this program gives teens a chance to be directly involved in the community,” said Rodenbough, a 17-year-old  Grimsley High School senior.

There are youth network organizations in several counties across the state, including Guilford, Forsyth, Davie and Catawba. Eric Rowles,  president of Leading To Change, said these organizations have provided more than $230,000  to communities during the past four years.

Rodenbough and her fellow council members review grant applications from Guilford County students concerning projects that benefit young people. Other programs the council has helped support include a Grimsley initiative that created a garden at a local elementary school and Camille’s Closet, which provides young women with new and gently used prom dresses.

The Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro serves as the grant-making body, but how the money is doled out is strictly up to the teen council members, said Traci Poole,  a program assistant with the foundation.

“They do it all,” Poole said.

During the 2007-08 school year, the students allocated about $10,000  in grant funds, Poole said.

Marielle Carrington,  a junior at Northeast High School in McLeansville, said sometimes it’s hard to make decisions about which projects should be funded.

“All of the projects are really good,” she said.

Carrington said she’s also learned the meaning of philanthropy through her work with the council. That’s because before deciding which groups will get assistance, the council spends about half a dozen meetings just learning what it means to be a good philanthropist.

While the summit’s goal was a serious one, at the end of the day, the students also got to have some fun.

Artist David Garibaldi  entertained them with his Rhythm and Hue performance. Garibaldi painted portraits of such popular musical figures as Kanye West  and Alicia Keys  to the beat of the respective artists’ hit songs.

Contact Jonnelle Davis at 627-4881, Ext. 126, or jonnelle.davis@news-record.com