28 students from seven Logan County high schools are halfway through their Student United Way experience. Now comes the hard part.
After three half-day sessions in which they were exposed to the human service needs facing Logan County, the group identified the six they observe as the most critical affecting youth. Now they're looking for projects to support with the $25,000 they have to spend from the fall United Way campaign.
Local schools, organizations, churches, and government entities are encouraged to apply for a United Way Youth Allocations grant by the April 4 deadline for consideration.
"We hope to receive ideas that are practical, things that are actually going to work, that will make a difference and will help with the subjects we picked out that we think need the most help," said Allison Culp, a senior at Indian Lake High School.
The students collaborated to finalize their grant criteria this week and are now accepting requests for funding for programs that serve Logan County youth under 18 in the areas of:
- Mental Health, such as but not limited to High School Challenge Days, counseling and outreach so students know where to turn for help, training for school staff to better support students, peer support for youth.
- Substance Abuse, such as but not limited to engaging public speakers, anti-drug and alcohol education, prevention, peer support for youth, support for students whose parents/family use drugs, DARE, Neighborhood Outreach Centers.
- Domestic Violence & Teen Dating, such as but not limited to awareness related to family and dating violence, how to spot red flags and get out of unsafe relationships.
- Financial Stability / Personal Finance, such as but not limited to financial literacy education; practical adult functions such as cooking and car maintenance; practice job interviews and preparation.
- After School / Summer Activities, such as but not limited to low-cost, safe activities and events.
- Disabilities, such as programming designed to inclusively serve those with physical or developmental disabilities.
Applications are available HERE or by calling (937) 592-2886.
“Student United Way,” is United Way of Logan County’s youth leadership development program. So far this spring, students have completed a Poverty Simulation, toured the Discovery Riders therapeutic horse farm, and learned about financial literacy at Richwood Bank. Along the way, their eyes were opened to how domestic violence tears families apart. And they discussed how prevalent mental health and substance abuse concerns are among their peers.
"It's pretty crazy how much you learn from Student United Way, because you have all these people in your community that are doing programs that you never even knew about, and helping people who you didn't know needed help," said Gretchen Wilber, a senior at Benjamin Logan High School.
"We've been able to learn about the community and different aspects about how people are helping other people is really cool," said Andrew Hughes, a senior at Benjamin Logan High School. "I think we as humans work best helping each other, instead of trying to go alone. So when someone has an issue, seeing how United Way helps them and how they fund other programs for people who need help is eye-opening but really cool to be a part of."
Students participating in Student United Way this year include:
- Montana Buck, Morgan Burden, Beau Salyer, and Carter Snapp from Bellefontaine High School.
- Allie Henault, Andrew Hughes, Parker McGowen, and Gretchen Wilber from Benjamin Logan High School.
- Patrick James, Lucy Jarvis, Emma Patton, and Isaac Reinhard from Calvary Christian.
- Allison Culp, Trenton Fulkerson, Brant Parsell, and Katelyn Pippen from Indian Lake.
- Tori Blanks, Emma Hempker, Aliya McCary, and Gavin Wilson from Ohio Hi-Point Career Center.
- Chase Davidson, Rachel Knight, Kaleb Schindewolf, and Kristen Schulmbohm from Riverside High School.
- Avery Davis, Abbigayle Long, Makenna Smith, and Micah Stoner from West Liberty-Salem High School.
