Grant helps increase youth community involvement
Six Bigfork High School seniors are working with the Community Foundation for a Better Bigfork to spearhead three projects designed to increase youth involvement in the community.
Halisia Hubbard, Amber McDaniel, Zoe Gaiser, Miranda Miller, Jeanie Schneck and Rebecca Sewell got a jump-start into community service by joining AmeriCorps and volunteering time at the LEAP after-school program two years ago.
This year they continue the tradition of volunteering through the Young Adult Service Corps, an AmeriCorps program for youths aged 17-24, and with the help of a $7,500 grant from the Hopa Mountain Foundation out of Bozeman.
Cathy Gaiser pulled the youth group together while she was LEAP’s director. She brought them in to help mentor elementary school kids enrolled in the program. When Gaiser separated with LEAP last summer, she decided to continue her AmeriCorps work in a different capacity.
“I already had these six kids recruited, and I didn’t want to drop the ball,” Gaiser said. “I got this grant, so it’s kind of this natural fit.”
They call themselves the Youth Coalition.
The Hopa Mountain grant they recieved will go toward the three projects the coalition chose as part of the grant application process.
The first of which is a nature sign project the group started with CFBB while Gaiser was still at LEAP. The signs will educate walkers, runners and bikers on the Swan River Nature Trail about the flowers and trees that surround the trail.
Beautification of the Bigfork Playhouse Children’s Theatre is the youth group’s second task. It will include small remodeling projects like a new exterior paint job. The full gist of the what the beautification will entail hasn’t been decided yet, but if money and time is left over, the project may extend to the inside of the theater.
A 10-week summer camp for at-risk kids in the children’s playhouse building encompasses the third project.
The $7,500 grant comes with a caveat that the community has to match the funds, and that the projects need to be completed by the end of July 2012.
Gaiser already has $5,200 in matched funding secured—$2,500 from the 100 Best Communities for Youth in America grant she applied for while still at LEAP and $2,700 from Clays for Kids, an organization in the Flathead that raises money for non-profits that benefit children.
The remainder of the funds can be raised through private donations or donations such as volunteer time or supplies for projects.
Gaiser needed a non-profit to hold onto the funds and keep track of how the grant money was spent, and CFBB agreed to do it.
“We think what she’s doing is important,” CFBB president Paul Mutascio said. “In terms of getting the youth involved in the community, and that’s why we’re doing this.”
One of the guidelines of the partnership is that the coalition has a standing member that goes to CFBB’s monthly meetings. Youth Coalition members will have a chance to stay up-to-date on what CFBB is doing to help the community of Bigfork and provide input on what they think should happen.
At this point though, the relationship is still fairly new and how the partnership will evolve is ultimately the decision of the kids involved. It’s also on the coalition members’ shoulders to recruit other high school kids to participate in the projects and to potentially join YASC in the future.
Since the community projects will be completed through YASC, each coalition member has applied and been accepted to be a part of the program. They are required to complete 300 service hours that encompass volunteer work, applying for college and scholarships, and leadership training. Upon completion of the hours, each member receives a $1,175 stipend for college.
“I’m really proud of these kids,” Gaiser said. “There’s ways to integrate the youth and the town together. It’s up to them (the kids).”