The Hillsdale County Community Foundation has awarded $25,000 to the GOAL programs to fund volunteer efforts for this academic year.
The funds will be split between the 26 GOAL volunteer programs, junior and GOAL Coordinator Mary Ann Powers said.
The Hillsdale County Community Foundation is a nonprofit that provides funding and grants for local service groups and frequently works with Hillsdale’s GOAL program.
“Since GOAL is so focused on being involved with the wider local community, the Hillsdale County Community Foundation really wants to help strengthen that as much as they can,” senior and GOAL Director Lucy Cuneo said.
GOAL leaders had to write grant proposals and give presentations about how they would use the grant money in their respective programs. They could request up to $1,500 each and had to have a plan of what they would do if they did not receive every dollar they requested.
“They use that money to do things from volunteer appreciation to getting materials to help with the volunteering programs,” Cuneo said. “It’s a really wonderful way of being able to serve the community and direct the funds from HCCF towards places that we see need.”
GOAL hopes to expand its reach this year, and the grant money will help with that, Powers said.
“Our goals for this next year are going to be to expand our impact on the community with our two big service projects,” Powers said. “This year, we’re hoping to, one, expand the impact of our service projects by increasing the number of volunteers, and two, unite the campus volunteers with the actual community members.”
Cuneo, who was the GOAL coordinator last year, said she has noticed an increase in service since she has been involved in the program.
“Day of Service has only been going on for three years,” she said. “The second annual Day of Service had about 250 people in attendance. The third annual had 300. For this next Day of Service, we are aiming for 500.”
Junior Emma Widmer, who runs the Humane Society GOAL program, said she plans to use her grant money to promote the program and provide volunteer appreciation for people who consistently visit the animal shelters included under the program’s umbrella. She said she wants to see students get more involved with the community at large and hopes the things she’s able to do with the grant money will help.
“I’ve been trying to get people at the shelters as much as possible and really get the connections between the college students and the community to be really solid,” Widmer said.
Senior Beth Potwardowski runs the Community Health Outreach program, which encompasses multiple volunteer opportunities such as semesterly blood drives, the free clinic, and hospice care.
“They’re all super small nonprofits that really do rely on our volunteers to make their daily operations run smoothly,” Potwardowski said. “The grants help fill in the financial gaps that a lot of the organizations basically run on a daily basis.”
She said she will also use some of her funds for volunteer appreciation.
Cuneo said she encourages students to look beyond themselves and serve the Hillsdale community.
“College is a time when you’re able to be selfish,” Cuneo said. “So it takes a real act of will to get beyond yourself, which is essential if we’re reading Plato, Aristotle, the Bible, all these things – they tell us to be virtuous, not just to think virtuously but to act in accordance with that.