Community Foundation of the Ozarks

The Community Foundation’s Rural Schools Partnership initiative announced the 2010 Student Wellness Grant recipients for projects that promote good nutrition and active lifestyles.

The Student Wellness Grants are made possible by the Ed and Virginia Heer Family Foundation Fund. Several of the grants were made to chapters of the Youth Empowerment Project, a CFO initiative to encourage youth philanthropy and community service. The recent YEP conference was profiled in the Nov. 12  “Making a Difference” segment on Springfield public radio station KSMU, 91.1 FM.

The grants were awarded to:

• Fair Grove High School Youth Empowerment Project: $1,300 to create informational markers for distance intervals and circuit training at a new walking track around school property.
• Purdy High School Spanish Club Youth Empowerment Project: $900 to expand its research on food sustainability, including visits to a large Farmer’s Market, like Springfield’s, natural food stores, and other areas of interest.
• Gainesville Schools’ Youth Empowerment Project: $1,500 for the YEP group to assume responsibility for the school’s weekend backpack program, which provides nutritious food for about 57 eligible students.
• Carl Junction High School Youth Empowerment Project: $1,500 to begin a weekend backpack program providing nutritious food to about 65 eligible students throughout the district.
• Hermann Elementary School: $1,500 for an “Art from the Heart” project combining nutrition education with printmaking skills using the vibrant colors of heart-healthy vegetables and fruits.
• Valle Catholic School in Ste. Genevieve: $625 to purchase pedometers for students participating in a morning walking program to track their target goal of 10,000 steps a day.
• Cuba All Aboard Learning Center: $1,275 to support the annual “Turkey Trot Fun Run” that serves as a primary fundraising effort to defray rates to parents participating in its day care and before- and after-school programs.

“We are eager to see the results of these grants to our Rural Schools Partnership and Youth Empowerment Project members who are using both creativity and community service to encourage healthy lifestyles and good nutrition,” said Julie Leeth, CFO executive vice president.

Johan Mostert, CFO Speaker Drury U from CF Ozarks on Vimeo.

Dr. Johan Mostert’s keynote address, which was given at the 2010 Youth Philanthropy Conference on October 14th, is available to watch online.  Dr. Mostert’s talk to Ozarks students focused on the importance of becoming social entrepreneurs by finding and addressing community needs in each small town. The conference drew together nearly 200 students and advisers involved in the CFO’s 31 Youth Empowerment Project chapters.

“Philanthropy is a love, it’s a commitment to humanity,” said Dr. Mostert, who was introduced by CFO President Brian Fogle.  “It is a sense of ‘I am here for the rest of the world.  I’m taking my life and I’m investing it to make it better for other people’.”

Dr. Mostert holds multiple graduate and terminal degrees and is currently a Professor of Community Psychology at the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary.

“I want you challenge you to be social entrepreneurs,” Dr. Mostert said.  “Make a magnificent difference in the communities that you’re privileged to live in.”

The Monett YEP was one of the chapters that attended the annual conference at Drury University.

Nearly 200 students and advisors representing most of the 31 Youth Empowerment Project chapters across southern Missouri gathered for an annual conference at Drury University today, which featured inspirational words and ideas and the unveiling of the new YEP website.

The website - www.yepozarks.org – is now live, but development work on it continues as each YEP chapter will get more training to develop its own page and submit calendar items at a November webinar. In the meantime, its features include resources for students and advisors, photos of the chapters’ activities and basics like the tenets of YEP.

Johan Mostert, a professor of community psychology at the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary, gave the keynote remarks urging the YEP students to live the meaning of the word “philanthropy,” which translates from its Latin roots to essentially “loving humanity.”

“Love has to be put into action and that action is service,” said Dr. Mostert, a native of South Africa. “I want to challenge you to become social entrepreneurs and you’ll make a magnificent difference in your communities.”

A video of Dr. Mostert’s remarks will be posted soon on the new YEP website. Springfield Public Radio stationKSMU will air a report about the YEP as part of its “Making a Difference” series on Nov. 12.

CFO Executive Vice President Julie Leeth also encouraged the YEP students to consider applying for the upcoming Conco Community Arts and Student Wellness grants, which are due Friday, Oct. 29. Each program has $10,000 available for grants ranging from $500 to $1,500 for student-led arts and wellness projects.

During two sets of breakout sessions, the students from exchanged ideas on topics including fundraising, community service, soliciting grant applications and making grant selections. A number of creative fundraising ideas were discussed, ranging from wrestling in Gainesville to a middle-school prom in Seymour.