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The Starke County Youth Club, a nonprofit organization established in 2003, works to promote excitement and engagement through learning experiences for the local youth. Currently holding locations at Knox Elementary, North Judson-San Pierre Elementary, and Oregon-Davis Elementary, these sites host various after-school and morning care programs, striving to “help young people find their own potential.” These programs, specifically catered to elementary school students, offer a variety of fun, educational activities that encourage continued learning while school is out of session. Children were able to make healthy snacks, build and control Lego robots, and plant seeds to watch them grow. These programs offered a great opportunity to get students out of the house and keep them engaged this summer!
This summer, the programs had some special visitors as members of the Starke County Community Foundation Ambassadors Club were able to attend and see impactful grant dollars in action. The SCCF Ambassadors Club exists to keep organization founders and former board members involved with the Foundation’s philanthropic work. The group meets quarterly to talk about charitable work happening in Starke County and choose recipients for pop-up grants that are then awarded throughout the year.
SCCF Ambassador and former Knox Schools Art Teacher Suzy Bishop shared, “It was a pleasure to visit the classroom of the SCYC summer program at North Judson-San Pierre Elementary and see our grant money at work. I was so very impressed at the robotics characters they made with the guidance of their tutors…and I could easily see their pride in their robots and how they performed.” By visiting the summer program, the club was not only able to see just how important programs like these can be for local children, but also how impactful the outcome of pop-up grants can be for the community altogether.
“We are so grateful for the Community Foundation. It was a real pleasure to showcase our kids and summer programs for the Ambassadors Club,” said Executive Director of the Starke County Youth Club, Irene Szakonyi. “Those educational programs, like cooking and robotics, provide excellent academic and personal growth for kids with literacy, math, science, and life skills. It’s possible because of funding like this!”
Within 2024, the Starke County Community Foundation has granted over $25,000 to the Starke County Youth Club from various funds and pop-up grants. This includes $433 provided through the SCCF Agency Fund, $2,000 for Summer Programs and $3,000 in Organizational Support through Starke County Community Funds, $3,000 from the Ambassador Club Pop-Up Grant, and $10,000 for Radiothon Match and $10,000 in Organizational Support both through the Hardesty Memorial Endowment Fund.
These summer programs put on by the Starke County Youth Club were made possible through Starke County Community Funds. You can help to provide long-term support for SCYC through the Starke County Community Foundation by visiting nicf.org, clicking the donate button, and then entering Starke County Youth Club Sustainability Fund into the search bar.
