On Thursday, April 8, Jaymie McGrath was one of five investors at the 2nd Annual Minnow Tank — a competition challenging girls in sixth through eighth grade to pitch a philanthropic project.
Minnow Tank empowers and inspires young girls to have a voice.
The purpose is to have these young girls realize that they can make a difference in the community, 
whether it relates to financial literacy, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math), Outdoor Education, Healthy Living or Leadership.
The event was held at the Mount Mercy University Graduate Center, and was created by SuccessSHE and Girl Scouts of Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois (GSEIWI).
Five teams of girls presented their philanthropic ideas:
Three Linn-Mar Middle School girls from Marion, Iowa are working to establish Kidizenship, which provides seminars at local non-profits to people who want to learn how they can be more involved in the community. They 
earned $500 towards their project.
A group of 
Franklin Middle School girls from Cedar Rapids, IA want to start Iowa Dance. It is a non-profit for underprivileged young girls to pursue their dancing dreams. The girls would receive free dance lessons in a variety of genres, like jazz, hip-hop and Indian dance. They received $250 to carry out this organization.
A team of girls that go to Harding Middle School aim to start Greenhouse Cycle Gardens to use recycled and reused materials to build a greenhouse. The produce grown in the greenhouse would be shared with the community and local shelters. Their ultimate goal is to expand this project to other schools and districts. $500 was gifted to start this project.
Eager Franklin Middle School girls want to teach underserved and/or at-risk students about music with Music Muchkins. They were gifted $250 for this project.
Finally, Path to Success plans to organize a free four-week course on life skills, like healthy living, financial skills, parenting and preparing for job interviews, which will be taught by volunteers, professionals and/or teachers. They earned $1,000 for this great community-empowering program.
Congrats to all the teams for stepping forward to make the community a better place!
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