Terrill Story, center, sponsors the St. James chapter of the Youth Empowerment Project. The student-led group operates the Firehouse Coffee Shop — located just off of historic Route 66 — to raise funds for grantmaking.
A former fire station is now a destination for community in St. James, where the local chapter of the Youth Empowerment Project — the CFO’s program that teaches tenets of philanthropy to young people — operates Firehouse Coffee Shop.
For about 15 years, it’s evolved as a place to meet up with friends, hang out after school, or grab a cup before the next activity. It’s open to the community, so locals and travelers can drop by, too. The student workers are volunteers, and the funding they raise supports others.
Just one example: They funded two goats and a small motorcycle for a man who oversaw orphanages in Uganda. To really support that cause, they named a special drink after the man and mooed like a cow every time it was ordered. (They originally thought they would buy him a cow, but plans changed.)
“When I hear people go, ‘Our youth nowadays,’ I say, ‘Let’s do talk about our youth nowadays,’ says Terrill Story, an art teacher at St. James High School and the YEP chapter sponsor. “‘I have like 20 students that just work for free, and they do great.’
"They need people to believe in them and encourage them and kind of prod them along and help direct them in the right ways — and love them in spite of the ways that they choose, too. They will know someone valued them and valued their worth and their desires.”
For the students, working in the colorful shop, adorned with artwork, builds a sense of connection and commitment.
“Volunteering here has actually been really good,” says Cat Murphy, one of the coffee shop’s volunteers. “It helped me get my first job. It looks really good on a résumé, especially if you haven’t had a previous job.”
And, at the end of the day, it comes back to helping others. As volunteer Jack Willis puts it, “We do this so we can feed other people.”
—by Kaitlyn McConnell
