Youth Advisory Council Announces Spring Grant Awards

The Community Foundation for Mason County Youth Advisory Council conducted a county-wide youth needs assessment to learn youth concerns, involvement in the community, and their plans for the future. The top three problems identified across our local high schools were:

• Academic Stress
• Mental health
• Substance Abuse

YAC presented this information to leadership groups in the community and focused their spring competitive grant awards on programs to help in these areas. Awards totaling $7,000 went to four organizations resulting from the Youth Advisory Council (YAC) Spring Grant Round including:

• Mason County Eastern School District – Academic Planning
• Lakeshore Food 4 Kids – Healthy Snacks for Kids
• Circle Rocking S Children’s Farm – Wheelchair Ramp for Hay Wagon
• West Shore Educational Service District – Math & Mentors Program

“Every year when YAC participates in the spring grant round, it not only empowers the organizations we are funding, but our members and youth in the area,” said Alana Calhoun, President of the Community Foundation for Mason County’s Youth Advisory Council. “It emphasizes that we as young people can make a change in our community through discussion with one another, allowing our voices to be heard, and then therefore make a lasting impact for our peers.”

The Youth Advisory Council is a special “youth as grantmakers” project of the Community Foundation for Mason County. The YAC is made up of student representatives from Mason County schools and supported by adult advisors. Since its inception, the YAC has made over 350 grants to local youth projects, totaling over $365,000. To learn more about the Community Foundation for Mason County’s Youth Advisory Council, click here.