Across the many elementary, middle and high schools in St. Charles, there are an abundance of clubs, organizations and projects that amplify youth involvement and welfare. When these groups need money to continue their engagement of students in the community, they often turn to the St. Charles Youth Commission to help.
The Youth Commission is a collection of community members that help provide funding and services to benefit the welfare of St. Charles youth. Meeting on the first Monday of each month during the school year at the St. Charles Police Department, the Commission utilizes their annual budget of $15,000 dollars to help local organizations and individuals make a beneficial impact on the community.
“The Youth Commission directs services and awards funding to support the welfare of the City’s youth. Groups that support children in St. Charles from schools and churches to scouts and other organizations are directed to consider how they can make a difference that will impact today’s youth,” said treasurer John Stock, referring to the Youth Commission’s page description.
The members of the Youth Commission, who are appointed by the mayor of St. Charles, value the role they play in supporting the St. Charles community.
“I’ve been helped by the community, so it’s nice to be able to give back and just be involved, and this is a simple way. As a single mom who has kids, it’s a small time commitment. We meet once a month, and we don’t meet in the summer, so it’s low commitment, high impact,” said Youth Commission member Allison Hinton.
One of the biggest Youth Commission meetings of the year is when seniors in East’s leadership studies class present their service learning projects to the members in hopes of receiving funding, which took place this year on March 3.
“[Leadership studies] gets all the curriculum components that all senior English classes abide by, but our focus is more on practical leadership, and over the course of the year, we’re learning all the basic tenets of leadership: values, missions, visions, shared values, challenging the process [and] reciprocity,” said East leadership studies teacher John Biernacki at Monday’s meeting. “[The service learning project is] a project from the ground up where [students] can kind of showcase their own leadership skills, but also give back to the community and make a difference in the way that they are proud of.”
The service learning projects varied from fundraisers for pancreatic cancer research to projects to inspire children in pediatric care. Each project requesting a sum of money from the Youth Commission to help fund their mission. The requests for all 12 service learning projects were approved by the board.
“I wish the school board were here to hear what kids are doing. … This is exactly what the Youth Commission is about,” said Stock. “We’re trying to get kids involved to do better and make the St. Charles community better.”
