Youth Council Awards Over $14,000 in Grants

The Watertown Area Community Foundation Youth Council has awarded its 2023 grants to area youth-serving organizations.  Organizations receiving grants are:

• • 4 The Kids – $500 to help families pay for student meals in the Watertown School District.
  • Community Transit of Watertown/Sisseton, Inc. – $2,000 to help with youth and family transportation for summer events.
  • Coteau Prairie Master Gardeners – $250 to help purchase plants for garden boxes at the Boys & Girls Club.
  • East-Central CASA – $606 for Caring Closet and child-related needs for children served by CASA.
  • Fallout Shelter Ministries – $1,000 to purchase new floor and wall mats to increase student safety.
  • Friends of the Goss Opera House – $2,500 to support the Passport to the Arts program.
  • Joy Ranch of South Dakota – $375 to assist in the purchase of equine cooling blankets.
  • Sleep in Heavenly Peace – $4,400 to enable the Watertown Chapter to purchase materials to build and furnish beds for children in need.
  • Watertown Area PACH – $3,319 for one week’s worth of food packs for approximately 531 youth.

The Foundation started the Youth Council in 2001 as a way to promote leadership and philanthropy among young people. Youth Council members visit several non-profit organizations in our community, host discussions with local leaders, and learn leadership and communication skills through the grant-making process. As part of their process, members perform a community SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis each year and utilize this to determine the most pressing needs when awarding grants to area youth-serving organizations.