WMHS students show they care
By Terry Murry on Wednesday, May 22nd, 2024 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
ATHENA – (News release from InterMountain ESD) In early May, the CommuniCare Club at Weston-McEwen High School (WMHS) provided grants to their community and school. The group awarded $7,000 to the Weston Food Bank, $5,000 to CAPECO (Community Action Program of East Central Oregon) and $208 to every classroom teacher at WMHS for classroom learning materials and enhancements.
The grants were presented at an awards ceremony on May 9.
The CommuniCare group is new at Weston-McEwen High School this school year. It has 12 students participating. Their Mission Statement is:
We, the members of Weston-McEwen CommuniCare, will prioritize funding applications to nonprofit organizations within the boundaries of the greater Athena-Weston School District that offer food security, clothing, and other necessities. Due to the many economic downturns, general prices have increased 18% in the last three years, however wages have not grown to match these rising costs. A simple way to put it is that our priority is people. Our goal as a community, not only as a club, is to unite our community through optimism. We will consider applications from community non-profit organizations that provide other services not listed, depending upon the quality of applications in the priority funding area. Growing up in a small community has shown us that being helpful is a crucial step to a community because it inspires others to take similar hopeful actions and helps us all aspire to be great.
The CommuniCare group is organized through CommuniCare Oregon (www.communicareor.org) which is funded by The Harold & Arlene Schnitzer CARE Foundation. An Oregon school registers to become a CommuniCare school and then over the course of a school year, the group receives the dedicated support of a CommuniCare staff member and resource materials to guide them.
The student group selects a community issue they care about, writes a Mission Statement, does fundraising and reviews applications from local nonprofits affiliated with the issue they chose. Each dollar raised is matched tenfold by The Harold & Arlene Schnitzer CARE Foundation, which stated that students involved “considered the many challenges in their community, deepening their understanding of what people need and what they go through every day.”
Photo from Weston-McEwen High School via IMESD
