Change Maker Showcase highlights diverse community service projects

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By Christine Foshaug Times Contributor

Last spring, Strathmore teen Emma Moore had an idea. Instead of taking on a community service project of her own, she decided to raise $2,000 to help 10 local groups.
She called it the Change Maker Initiative, and on Feb. 27 the groups she funded had the opportunity to showcase their projects at Crowther Memorial Junior High School (CMJHS).
In total, more than 800 children and youth participated in the initiative. After a welcome from Mayor Pat Fule and CMJHS principal Linda Tucker, each group gave a short presentation about their project.
CMJHS students ran three separate projects. The Strive Group created their own bakery and used their $200 of seed money to purchase supplies. On Fridays, they sold cupcakes and were able to donate $250 to three worthy causes.
In the Food for Thought project, Grade 7 students created hand-crafted cards with original Haiku poetry. Sales of the cards are ongoing, and at the end of the school year the proceeds will be donated to the School Fuel program.
Another group of Grade 7 CMJHS students taught Grade 1 students at Wheatland Elementary about how a healthy lifestyle can have a positive effect on brain health. They created books as teaching tools for their Healthy Bodies, Healthy Minds project.
Wheatland Elementary also ran three projects. Grade 2 and 3 students used their seed money to buy chocolate bars. They made $520 from selling the chocolate bars, and they used the money to buy cat food, litter, a scratching tower, beds, treats and toys for Happy Cat Sanctuary.
A group of Grade 3 and 4 students made 297 Blackfoot Gift Feathers and gifted them to local heroes. Another group of students ran a project called Eco-Avengers Save the World. They introduced “Wasteless Wednesdays,” encouraging students and staff to pack lunches that contain little to no waste.
Grade 3 students at Sacred Heart Academy used their seed money to purchase fleece to make seven prayer blankets for the overnight shelter.
The student leadership team at Westmount School worked with the Christmas Hamper Society to run a toy drive. They collected toy donations and used their seed money to buy Christmas gifts for teens.
Grade 9 students at George Freeman School put together appreciation baskets for local emergency services, delivering baskets with personalized cards to nurses, doctors, paramedics, police officers and firefighters.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints youth group bought polar fleece with their seed money and used it to make 104 noques (toque/neck warmer combos) for the crisis and overnight shelters.
Fourteen-year-old Moore, who has been doing her own community service projects since she was 10 through her Em’s Donation Projects Facebook page, found that a lot of the students she worked with were interested in starting projects of their own. With the help of a CIF grant and corporate and personal donations, she was able to raise $2,000 to fund the 10 groups chosen by her adult committee.
Her Change Maker Showcase proved how small gestures can make a huge difference. “I was surprised how many people it impacted, how many people were touched by the amazing work the groups have done,” said Moore. “I’ve always liked helping in the community, but this time I wanted to do more.”