Teenagers in Southern Oregon are organizing food deliveries and stocking school clothing closets through the Josephine County Foundation, taking the lead on projects that meet their neighbors’ everyday needs.
Through the foundation’s youth arm, students identify community needs and develop projects to address them. The work gives teenagers a chance to make decisions, manage projects and bring together peers with different backgrounds and ideas.
The foundation began in 2011, when students and community members organized to take a more hands-on role in helping their neighbors. An early project provided free eye screenings and glasses.
For Jaydon Boyle, a Hidden Valley High School senior in his second year as student president, the work is personal. He said his own difficult upbringing drew him to the organization.
Boyle now leads a 27-member student advisory board.
“It is so fascinating to be able to see and witness in real time all these people from 14 to 18 collaborate and get this done,” Boyle said.
One of the foundation’s projects, Campus Closets, provides free clothing and toiletries at schools. The first closet opened in 2015. The spaces resemble small shops, a design intended to make students feel comfortable using them.
“The most important thing was there not to be a stigma behind going into our campus closets, which is why it's set up kind of like a thrift shop,” said Andrea Bennett, who helps guide the foundation’s student leaders.
Other initiatives include reading activities and peer mentoring. The foundation says it has distributed more than $2.5 million in donations, scholarships and other support and serves 30 schools across Southern Oregon.
Bennett said watching her daughter grow through the program inspired her to help other students.
“I'm just hoping to help other kids now just like JCF was able to help my own daughter,” Bennett said.
Community members can volunteer through the foundation’s Graduation Assistance Program, mentoring high school students as they work toward graduation and plan for life after school.
Donors and business sponsors can support student projects, events and fundraising efforts. Local organizations can also contact the foundation about potential partnerships.
Guests
- Andrea Bennett, program director, Josephine County Foundation
- Jaydon Boyle, student president, Josephine County Foundation
