BFF got some unexpected help in its mission of providing weekend meals for students who might otherwise go hungry.
Sally Mattausch received the following offer from a 12th-grader, who heads a philanthropic group at Cornwall Central High School.
Hello,
My name is Nina Creta. I am a senior at Cornwall Central High School as well as the founder and president of the Women’s Voices Youth Group We are a new group to Cornwall that is affiliated with the Democratic Committee and recognized by the high school’s head of guidance.
This group is founded around the idea of equality and is welcoming to any gender (not just women). We give teens an outlet to discuss everyday stigmas and we raise awareness in a safe, appropriate environment. We will be planning community service events and working together to make our community a better place. I believe giving youth a chance to improve the community and build bonds by talking to each other is a great way to get them involved and feeling appreciated and heard.
With this said, for our first big event we are planning a canned food drive. The WVYG was wondering if you would be interested in a partnership to receive canned food! We are also donating to the ASPCA and, possibly, a local homeless shelter. It would be a wonderful experience to be able to work with the BFF program and we would love to help out in any way we can….
Sincerely
Nina Creta
and the WVYG
The plans changed. Instead of collecting canned goods, the volunteers shared the BFF shopping list with their fellow students and then set up tables where people could leave their donations.
And that’s just a start, the group is now collecting socks for people in homeless shelters. And the students hope to take on a different project every month.
There are 15 members of WVYG. “It brings kids together and gives them an outlet,” Nina explained during an interview at the school, which included vice presidents Eliana Barth and Emma Zwickel. The impetus for the group’s formation was an incident in the cafeteria.
Nina was moving tables when an authority figure inadvertently insulted her. “You should let the boys do that,” the person insisted.
Feeling belittled, and wanting to share her reaction with someone, Nina created WVYG. “We may be small now,” she said on Nov. 18, “but we hope to grow in the future, leaving Cornwall kids with a safe outlet for generations to come.”
