YR’s Make A Difference Grant Recipients Meeting Today at Youth Resources!
The seats are quickly filling up for the 2010-2011 Youth Resources’ Make A Difference Grant recipients’ meeting this afternoon, where recipients are learning more about pre- and post-evaluations and other required grant documentation from YR’s Jessica Fehrenbacher! What a GREAT GROUP!
Youth Resources of Southwestern Indiana ‎2010-2011 YR Make A Difference Grant Recipients:
1. Bosse High School – Bosse Cares/Study to Win Program: The group wants to pair a Bosse athlete with a fourth or fifth grader at Glenwood. The focus will be on providing a positive role model for the younger students with an emphasis on reading and studying.
2. Bosse High School – Ronald McDonald House Project: The students in the Moderate Cognitive Disabilities Program want to prepare meals for the Ronald McDonald house and then deliver them to the facility.
3. Castle Community 4-H Club: Youth members will put together military Hero packs that will be sent to children/youth whose parent(s) are serving in Indiana National Guard and Reserves. The packs are a way to say thank you to the youth and their family for their loved one’s service.
4. Chandler Elementary School – Student Council: The council wants to create “Birthday†boxes for less fortunate children in the school. The box would contain a gift, wrapping paper, cake mix, cake pan, candles, icing, and spaghetti meal. The council members would pick out the gifts, sort the items, and pack the boxes.
5. Discovery Church Youth Group: The youth want to coordinate monthly group activities with the residents of the Riverwalk Communities. From November through May, the group will have a different activity every month.
6. Dream Center: The center has a youth program called S.H.I.N.E (Shining Hope in Neighborhoods Everywhere). This program encourages youth to give back to their community. The center has a “Feeding the Hungry†Food Basket Program that serves at-risk youth
and needy families in the community. Food baskets will be put together and delivered to families right before Thanksgiving.
7. Fairlawn Elementary School – Second Grade Buddy Program: The second graders at Fairlawn want to put together a buddy program at their grade level. Each month they will complete a different activity that promotes working together.
8. Fort Branch Community School – Student Council: The council members would like to host a kindergarten orientation, called “M & M†Math Night. They want to purchase educational books and kits for pre-kindergarteners. During the orientation, the young kids will meet faculty, take part in learning activities, and play a math game where they get to add and subtract m&m’s.
9. Glenwood Leadership Academy: The third, fourth, and fifth grade students will write letters and make holiday cards for their neighbors. They will then complete and “blitz†the neighborhood with the letters, kindness, ornaments, and potted plants.
10. Glenwood Leadership Academy/Hebron Elementary School: The first grade students at Glenwood and the fifth grade art students at Hebron will team up to explore the wetlands at Eagle Slough. The two groups will exchange letters, learn about birds, build nesting boxes, and create artwork.
11. Heritage Hills Natural Helpers: The high school and middle school helpers want to start a new program that welcomes new students. The goal is to help make the transition to a different school environment easier.
12. Patchwork Central’s Junior Helpers: The Junior Helpers program is a group of middle and high school students who serve as mentors/leaders for elementary students in the Arts & Smarts after-school program at Patchwork. The helpers want to sponsor a “Christmas Store†where they can help the elementary students get gifts for their families.
13. Resurrection School – Third and Fourth Grades: The students want to decorate pillows for children at Riley Hospital in honor of Clare Scheller. Clare is a Mater Dei graduate who is at Riley undergoing cancer treatment.
14. Scott School – Check-Out Program: Scott 5th graders will adopt 3 non-profit organizations and shop for items for the agencies. Students will be given a budget and will try to save the most money with the items they buy. They will then deliver the items to the three organizations.
15. Scott School – Scott Cares Program: The students from Ms. Cook’s class will plan a meal, purchase the ingredients, serve the meal, and visit with the volunteers and those people who come to eat at First Ebeneezer Church meal program. The students will also organize the food storage and clean up afterwards. They will also clean litter in the nearby park.
16. St. John School: The students have decided to support the Albion Fellows Bacon Center’s Never Alone program. Their goal is to make small blankets to be put in first responder patrol cars. The blankets will then be given to young children.
17. St. Joseph School (Evansville) – Student Council: Once a month, the students will prepare a meal for the residents of Ozanam Family Shelter. The meals will begin in October and run through May.
18. St. Joseph School (Princeton) – Third Grade: The class wants to host a Literacy Luau to bring families together for literacy awareness. They will have a dinner and activity stations for the youth.
19. St. Theresa School – Seventh Grade: The students want to complete the project “Blankets for Buddies†for their “2 and 4 legged†buddies. The groups will make blankets for animals at the Humane Society and for the residents of Lucas Place.
20. St. Wendel School – Fourth Grade Military Service Project: The fourth grade students at St. Wendel will connect with local soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. At Christmas and Easter, care packages will be sent to individuals serving in war areas. Throughout the year, letters will be written to the soldiers.
21. St. Wendel School – Second Grade “Operation Rudolphâ€: The second graders will plan, implement, and oversee a holiday party for children whose families have been separated by incarceration and who are now being housed at the Volunteers of America facility.
22. TSA Youth Group: The group has a project titled AIDS Holiday Project that meets the needs of lowincome families affected by HIV/AIDS in the Tri-State. At Christmas, they give food, gifts, gift certificates and clothes to the families affected by this disease. As part of this effort, they also wrap gifts at Barnes & Noble to raise money for this project.
The Youth Resources Make A Difference Grants, previously known as the Service Learning and Youth As Resources programs, provide grants for local youth-led service projects. These grants address real problems and enhance young people’s brain…storming, planning, budgeting, communication, teambuilding, and leadership skills. During the process youth learn practical applications to academic learning, use cognitive and social skills, develop future job skills, and realize they can solve community problems, which helps to build self-esteem.
127,389 local children and teens have been involved in 1,972 youth-led service projects and have received over $692,427 in grants from Youth Resources. More than 700 youth were directly involved in 19 Make A Difference Grants projects in the 2009-10 school year making a positive impact on nearly 5,800 others in their communities!
Applications are accepted each fall for grants ranging from $100-$1,000.
Youth Resources Make A Difference Grant Program is YR’s founding program and it was started by the National Crime Prevention Council as one of the three national pilot sites over 23 years ago! For more information please visit www.youth-resources.org or call 812-421-0030!
