Thanks to your votes, 10 Key Clubs have collectively earned US$13,451 to fund service projects ranging from raising money for rare disease research, to sending sanitation supplies to schools in Guatemala, to giving kids of all abilities the chance to play together.
The 2018 Nickelodeon HALO Movement finalists are:
Beaver Dam High School Key Club in Wisconsin, which will provide hospitals with books to distribute to parents of young children in a community where 40 percent of school-aged kids meet federal poverty guidelines, and where English-as-a-second-language education is needed.
Cypress Woods High School Key Club in Texas, whose members will fill backpacks with food for students in need at a nearby elementary school where 74 percent of students are economically disadvantaged.
Enloe Magnet High School Key Club in Raleigh, North Carolina, which plans to host a food-themed carnival to raise awareness and donations for the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle, an organization that feeds about 50,000 adults and children each month.
McLoughlin High School Key Club in Milton-Freewater, Oregon, which will use its grant to expand its “Friday Food Bags” program — which gives weekend meals to students in need — to two additional schools in its district.
Millburn High School Key Club in New Jersey, whose members will host a 5K “Color Run” to raise money for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals and the American Cancer Society.
Mingus Union High School Key Club in Cottonwood, Arizona, which will use its grant money to provide low-income students with personal cleansing items and school supplies through its “Hope Chest.”
Sturgis Charter Public School East Key Club in Hyannis, Massachusetts, which is collaborating with Key Club partner Squads Abroad to send supplies to schools in Guatemala to help with sanitation, hygiene and nutrition.
Tecumseh High School Key Club in Michigan, which will host a dance to raise awareness of, and money for research of, airway defects in infants, such as laryngomalacia.
Waupun Area Junior/Senior High School Key Club in Wisconsin, whose members collect toys, books, art supplies, clothes and gas gift cards during the holidays for families of kids at the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin.
Wheaton North High School Key Club in Illinois, which plans to add a wheelchair-accessible treehouse to the area’s “sensory playground” for kids of all abilities, with a special focus on playtime for kids with autism.
Congratulations to all of the 2018 finalists!
The Nickelodeon HALO Movement is a year-round pro-social initiative celebrating kids who are helping and leading others (HALO). Nickelodeon has teamed up with longstanding volunteer partners Key Club and DoSomething.org to mobilize kids to participate in service projects, for the opportunity to receive seed grants or scholarship funds for school. WeHALO.com provides information on how to participate in the Nickelodeon HALO Movement and apply for HALO grants through Key Club and DoSomething.org.
HALO stands for Helping And Leading Others, and the HALO Movement highlights kids, and their families, who make the world a better place while inspiring us to do the same! At WeHALO.com, Nick brings you incredible stories of kids who have used their passion and creativity to help those in need. Ordinary kids doing extraordinary things – that’s the HALO Movement!
Follow Key Club International on Facebook and Twitter for future service grant opportunities.
From Key Club Magazine:
HALO Movement grants: Healthy habits
A quartet of clubs brings hope, fun and comfort to kids.
Key Club International and Nickelodeon’s HALO Movement again have partnered to offer grants to help Key Clubs carry out service projects. In the latest round of 10 winners, four clubs received grants for projects that address health-related issues.
Based in New Jersey, the Millburn High School Key Club received a grant to support the Millburn Color Run. Every year, members donate race funds to a different community charity. For the next run, they will fundraise for the Children’s Miracle Network and the American Cancer Society.
“This project is important to the community because it brings people together for an important cause,” Millburn Key Club President Ranen Miao says. “Every year, we try to focus on our community when we think of the charities to donate to. Giving back is so important, and the Color Run is a very impactful way of doing just that.”
The 5K race is held every spring. At the race’s beginning, participants receive a T-shirt and colored powder to throw during the event; at the finish line, they celebrate with pizza and prizes.
Last year, the Millburn Color Run raised US$2,000 for the Thirst Project and New Jersey Federation of Food Banks, as well as $2,000 for a family battling childhood lymphoma.
In Wisconsin, the Waupun Area Key Club received a HALO grant to support the Giving Tree project.
When families face large medical bills, it can be tough to purchase holiday presents for hospitalized children. Club members formed the Giving Tree to purchase items on the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin’s wish list, including toys, books, art supplies and clothes. Those items are then gifted to the hospital’s young patients. The club also hosts Miracle Moments to raise money to purchase more items and gas gift cards.
Brelynn Bille, Key Club president and chair of the Wisconsin-Upper Michigan District’s Projects Committee, says the Giving Tree brings together students, families and businesses to support the Children’s Hospital.
“Because of our small town we live in, we have kids from our school, myself included, and in the community that have or have had their own battles to fight at this hospital,” Bille says. “Our community knows just how much these gifts can brighten a child’s day, especially around the holidays. Our club is motivated by the idea that if we can make the holiday season easier on just one family, then we have done our job.”
In the neighboring state of Illinois, the Wheaton North High School Key Club will use HALO grant funds to support the Accessible Tree House Project. Soon, it will add a wheelchair-accessible treehouse to the Sensory Garden Playground. This free, regional park serves children with disabilities, with special attention toward those on the autism spectrum.
“This project provides access to recreation for those with physical, mental and emotional disabilities and allows them to play side by side in a safe and welcoming environment,” Grace Tulley, former Key Club member, wrote in the HALO application.
The treehouse was designed using input from a series of focus groups with parents and inclusion experts. It will include ADA-accessible boardwalks that elevate 11 feet to the tree house.
Another midwestern club, Tecumseh High School Key Club in Michigan, received a HALO grant for an event to raise awareness of a rare syndrome involving infant airway defects.
The club decided to host such an event after meeting a young boy in their community who suffers from three types of those defects. A country-themed evening will include line dancing and food from local vendors.
Money raised will go toward Coping with Laryngomalacia, an organization that provides support for families dealing with infant airway defects such as laryngomalacia, tracheomalacia, and bronchomalacia.
“Being a small service club, we don’t have the money to fund a large community project like this, and so receiving this grant means everything to our project and event,” Lydia Lopez, who has served two terms as Key Club president, says. “The impact that the HALO grant has on our project is truly astronomical, making us extremely grateful and excited to put on an event that will forever hold a spot in many community members’ hearts.”
###
Also from Key Club Magazine:
HALO Movement grants: Striking back at hunger
Clubs tackle food insecurity in three communities.
(This is the second in a series of articles focusing on Key Clubs that received HALO Movement grants over the summer.)
Key Club International and Nickelodeon’s HALO Movement again have partnered to offer grants to help Key Clubs carry out service projects. In the latest round of 10 winners, three clubs received grants for projects that address hunger and food insecurity.
The Cypress Woods High School Key Club in Cypress, Texas, received a HALO grant to support economically disadvantaged students at nearby Jowell Elementary School. Out of Jowell’s 879 students, 653 face food insecurity. When Key Club members learned this troubling statistic, they decided to address it through the Pack-A-Snack project.
With its HALO grant money, the club will buy nutritional snacks that can be stored at room temperature and then stash them in bags and backpacks. After club members deliver the snacks to Jowell, the elementary school students can take home healthy and filling food for the weekend.
“Our community truly needs this project so we can impact students’ lives in more than one way,” Key Club member Ryan Parappuram wrote in the Key Club application. “First, it would allow them to be fed, and second, it would allow them to be healthy enough to go to school and get an education. Also, by our Key Club volunteering and making a change in the lives of young children, others in the community will be able to see that they can make a difference as well.”
In Raleigh, North Carolina, the Enloe Magnet High School Key Club also wanted to focus on food insecurity. Why? North Carolina is the 10th hungriest state in the nation.
The club’s HALO grant award will support a food-themed fall carnival, which will raise awareness of food insecurity in the Raleigh community. Admission will be a donation of canned food (or money to purchase food). That food then will be given to the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle, which distributes to those in need in Raleigh and to the high school’s food pantry. All funds raised from carnival games and activities also will go to the Food Shuttle.
“We hope to make strides in our community to reduce food insecurity in Raleigh,” Key Club member Megha Raman wrote in her application.
Meanwhile, the HALO grant received by the McLoughlin High School Key Club in Milton-Freewater, Oregon, will help support its existing Friday Food Bag initiative. During weekly meetings, Key Club members pack food bags with two breakfast items, two lunch or dinner items and two snack items and deliver them to two district schools.
The grant will allow club members to support and expand their school’s food pantry, which currently serves 29 students through the Food Bag program.
“We recognize that hungry children can’t learn in school,” Jennifer Hammer, the McLoughlin Key Club advisor, says. “Our goal is to provide a little help to kids who face food insecurity and to try to mitigate some of the negative impacts that come with hunger.”
In the future, club members hope to include more healthy items and expand the program to support additional children and schools.
###
Also from Key Club Magazine:
HALO Movement grants: Human resources
Key Clubs provide supplies, books and more to those in need.
Key Club International and Nickelodeon’s HALO Movement again have partnered to offer grants to help Key Clubs carry out service projects. In the latest round of 10 winners, three clubs received grants for projects to help those in need of school supplies, personal-care products or children’s books.
In Cottonwood, Arizona, the Mingus Union High School Key Club received a HALO grant to provide students from economically challenged families with free school supplies and hygiene products.
“We believe that students shouldn’t have to go to school and not be able to take notes because they don’t have paper or feel embarrassed because they can’t afford deodorant or shampoo,” club member Reanna Bueno wrote in the HALO application.
Thanks to the Halo grant, the Key Club will expand inventory for its Hope Chest project. In April 2018, members cleaned out a classroom and stocked it with newly purchased personal-care items (deodorant, shampoo, body soap, feminine products) and school supplies (paper, backpacks, pens). Counselors and teachers refer students in need to the Hope Chest for these key basics.
In addition to using grant funds, club members will fundraise with other projects to keep the Hope Chest filled. They hope to involve other student organizations and expand their resources to provide clothing and food as well.
When a local pediatrics group approached the Beaver Dam High School Key Club in Wisconsin with a request for help, the club jumped into action. It applied for and received a HALO grant to fund a Reach Out and Read initiative.
Reach Out and Read provides books to young children when their parents take them to the doctor for the first time. The Beaver Dam community has a growing Hispanic population with many second-language learners. These books will help children acquire a new vocabulary and improve their language skills at a young age.
“Our Key Club is so excited about this project in so many ways,” Key Club member Kendra Gillett wrote in the HALO application. “We have forged a new relationship with Beaver Dam (Community) Pediatrics and want to support their efforts with helping young families throughout the community.”
In Hyannis, Massachusetts, the Sturgis Charter Public School East Key Club received a grant to help school children in Costa Rica through the Squads Abroad program.
During their spring break in April 2019, 10 to 20 Key Club members will travel to Costa Rica for a week of service. There, they will help to educate students about the importance of healthy habits – including good nutrition and dental hygiene — and provide resources to combat the lack of health care in the community.
“We feel that as active Key Clubbers, it is our duty to help not only our community, but other communities that are also in need,” Key Club member Ellen Adams wrote in the HALO application. “This opportunity will also bring cultural awareness to our club and help us become better world citizens.”
In addition to receiving the HALO grant, the club has held bake sales to raise money for the project. In the current school year, members plan to organize car washes and partner with local businesses to provide more resources for the children. Their ultimate goal: to leave a lasting impact on the Costa Rica community.
###
More Nick: Skechers Celebrates 10th Pier to Pier Friendship Walk with $2 Million Fundraising Goal for Kids!
Follow NickALive! on Twitter, Tumblr, Google+, via RSS, on Instagram, and/or Facebook for the latest Nickelodeon and The HALO Movement News and Highlights!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Have your say by leaving a comment below! NickALive! welcomes friendly and respectful comments. Please familiarize with the blog's Comment Policy before commenting. All new comments are moderated and won't appear straight away.