Students learn about local non-profits through Wayne County Community Youth Foundation

 Graduation came several weeks early for 53 students from Wayne County.

 On May 5, the seventh class of Wayne County Community Youth Foundation student advisors convened to celebrate the end of a 10 month program structured around learning philanthropy.

As advisors, students learned how charitable funds grow, volunteered at projects such as Creston’s County Line Rainbow Run and awarded over $8,000 to grantees, including Wayne County Children’s Advocacy Center, the Viola Startzman Clinic and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Orrville and Wooster.

  Over the entirety of the program, student advisors have awarded over $35,700 in grants to local non-profit organizations, according to Youth Foundation Advisor Ferenc Relle, Jr.

 “It is a valuable experience because you get to see first hand what non-profit businesses do to help better the community and discover ways that you can help at these organizations,” Orrville student Ellen McAllister (11) said.

 Of the non-profit organizations visited, which included the Salvation Army, the Adaptive Sports Program of Ohio and the American Red Cross, McAllister identified a personal favorite as the Christian Children’s Home of Ohio.

 “My most memorable experience this year was when we went to CCHO and got to see all of the different types of therapy they used. At CCHO we were also taught team building activities that were not only fun, but can be taken by the students to use at their home schools,” McAllister said.

 WHS student Tim Fritts (12), of the 2017-18 WCCYF class, recalls visiting non-profits such as CAMO, Wooster Community Hospital and the Village Network and said the program was an eye-opening experience for him.

 “It was interesting to me to learn how many organizations in just our local community work every day to help people in need. The experience taught me a lot the scale of need in a community and how much of a difference one person can make,” Fritts said.

 Applications for the 2019-20 cycle are available at www.waynecountycommunityfoundation.org/our-funds/wayne-county-community-youth-foundation and are due May 17.