Giving back to the community

By: Taylor Rice

While many students fail to be involved in their community throughout their high school career, the students in business teacher Caroline Carpenter’s accounting class are learning to give back to their community.

This class, having been provided with grant money, has joined the program We R Community to donate money to needful organizations. Junior Rachel Mack, a student in Carpenter’s class, gives insight to the aspects of We R Community.

“Our mission is to help out different nonprofit organizations,” Mack said, “We are given various community service opportunities. Then, towards the end of the year we will be given grant money to be given to the organization of our choice.”

Although We R Community’s main goal is to donate money to public education, it was also created to help kids understand the importance of giving back to the community. Among the club’s highest priorities are teaching kids the importance of leadership, service, and philanthropy.

“We R Community has taught me to always give back,” Mack said.

We R Community has been given $5000 annually through the generosity of sponsors. Leslie DeVore, program manager of We R Community, says that this money provides a learning experience for students.

“Our students become real grant-makers and learn the business of philanthropy,” DeVore said. “They learn about issues in their communities and are empowered to make a difference by being involved. We R Community students develop invaluable life skills through interacting with members of their community.”

With money to give to an organization, We R Community has to decide who they want to give it to. Mack says making that decision will not be easy.

“One of the most difficult aspects of We R Community is deciding who to give the grant money to,” Mack said. “We feel that so many people are deserving of this money, so it will be hard to come to a fair decision.”

Yet, simply donating money is not all that the students have to worry about.

“The students have to budget, survey the school, create a mission statement on their own, create their grant, research a nonprofit organization that matched their mission statement, send out applications, and then evaluate applications,” Carpenter said. “So, you don’t get to just give away money—it’s a very involved process.”

While the main focus of We R Community is donating money, We R Community also focuses on bigger, underlying goals. “The biggest goal for We R

Community is to have every graduating senior in Clark County School District participate in the We R Community program.” DeVore said, “The long term impact on our community would be amazing.”

The $5000 that each class receives for participating starts to add up as this program grows. With nearly 450 students (13 We R Community classes) involved this year alone, the results are steadily increasing.

“The program only began in 2008, and yet, by the end of this school year, We R Community students will have donated $130,000 to community non-profits,” DeVore said.