Middle school students in Wiscasset experienced first hand how to make a decision about gifts totaling $1000 from the Unity Foundation in selecting area non-profits in which to donate.
They reached their choices of $500 to Youth Promise and $250 each to Teens to Trails and Four Season Gardeners Club through a process much like adults do using requests for proposals and interviews and presented checks to the groups’ representatives at a special event on Friday.
“They went through a very thoughtful process,” said Principal Linda Bleile.
Bleile hailed the Project Reach program at the school as a way of providing students an avenue to reach out to the community and learn hands-on what it is like to take responsibility for their own learning.
Wiscasset Middle School is one of a few schools throughout the state sponsoring the program under the direction of Kerry Mansir.
“It supports student aspirations,” Bleile said. “It gives them so many authentic experiences.”
The Project meshes with other school programs and provides students with contact with the community and learning experiences to apply what they learn in the classroom.
Student Laura Weatherbee explained what the students had to do to make their final selections for non-profits that they felt do a lot for youth. Once the final selection is made, the students then give away $1000 in grant money from the Unity Foundation.
“I am pleased to be here today to celebrate the conclusion of our JOY (Jumpstart Our Youth) project and to award grant money to a few very deserving organizations,” she said.
The three organizations were among the first recipients of the Maine Youth Philanthropy Program’s JOY grants.
Weatherbee told about a leadership conference she attended as an officer of the Reach Council with other councils throughout the state and the opportunity provided to give away $1000 to a non-profit in the community that serves young people.
First of all, the students had to identify area organizations that qualify and sent out 20 requests for proposals (RFP) to groups they chose initially as prospects.
“The kids did their own RFPs, said Mansir. “The Maine Youth Philanthropy Program wanted to teach kids about the grant process.”
Eight of the 20 organizations they contacted gave a reply to the RFPs, according to Mansir.
“We were able to narrow our choices down to three proposals,” Weatherbee said.
A consensus of the students decided on Youth Promise as one, but two others were close competitors. So, after inviting representatives from the two organizations and hearing their presentations, they decided to spit the $500 between them.
“One of the central themes of Project Reach is giving back to the community,” Weatherbee said. “We know that giving back makes us better people and better members of society.”
Acknowledging the donor of the grant, she said, “We need to thank the Unity Foundation for believing that, even though we are only kids who range in age from 11-14, we could find the programs in our community that most deserved this grant money.”
Youth Promise serves youth of Lincoln County. Teens for Trails is led by Carol Leone of Edgecomb and supports outing clubs for high school students throughout Maine with the goal of seeing one in every school in the state. Four Seasons Gardening Club led by Ginger Wehrle of Wiscasset, involves young people in gardening at Wiscasset Community Center grounds.
