HCI Board Funds Four “Investing in Youth” Grants to Benefit Area Youth

At their October and November 2012 board meetings, the Northfield Healthy Community Initiative (HCI) Board approved grants to support four projects and activities designed to benefit Northfield youth.  The projects are funded through HCI’s Investing in Youth grant program.  Funded projects included:

Riverland Career Fair
The TORCH (Tackling Obstacles and Raising College Hopes) program took students from the Northfield High School 9th Grade Academy to a career fair at Riverland Community College.  At this career fair, each student attended three seminars with professionals in the field to learn about specific careers and the paths to those careers.  Students were able to select seminars from a list of over 40 career options.

Library Lego and Origami Clubs
The Northfield Public Library plans to initiate creative afternoon (after-school) programming.  The library will start a Lego Club and an Origami Club, both of which will meet once each week.  Each club would be open to area youth.  For more information about joining either of these clubs, please contact the Northfield Public Library at (507) 645-6606.

Cyber-Bullying Presentation
On November 8th, the Northfield Middle School hosted a cyber-bullying presentation for the 6th grade class.  A specialist in this field spoke to students about appropriate internet, Facebook, and cell phone texting use.  The Northfield Middle School hoped to make students aware of the types of bullying techniques used in the cyber world and the potential consequences of cyber-bullying.

Reasons to Write Pen Pal Program
Senior citizen volunteers and students at Sibley Elementary School will share letters for eight weeks this fall and for another eight weeks in the spring.  At the conclusion of each session, Common Good RSVP (Retired & Senior Volunteer Program) will host a party giving students and senior volunteers an opportunity to meet their pen pals.

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HCI offers Investing in Youth grants to projects and activities that:

• provide the opportunity for young people to develop positive intergenerational relationships with caring adults and/or
• connect Northfield youth with their communities (ex. neighborhood, school, wider Northfield)

Applications are reviewed monthly and are due by the second Monday of the month.  Visit www.northfieldhci.org/investinginyouthgrants for more information and to access the easy-to-complete application.

Funding for the HCI Investing in Youth grants program comes from the Northfield Area United Way, MMIC Health IT, and Allina Medical Clinic-Northfield.