HIGGLY:YAC (Youth Advisory Committee) Happily Involved Grant Giving Lapeer Youth

HIGGLY is an advisory council to it's parent group - the Lapeer County Community Foundation - a non-profit organization that manages permanent endowment funds donated to help Lapeer County. The seed for the youth endowment portion of the Foundation was made possible by a challenge grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. As of August 2005, the Youth Initiative Fund's assets exceed $500,000 and generate over $25,000 in interest each year. The interest is used to give grants.

HIGGLY was started in 1996, and our membership is comprised of 7th - 12th grade students living in Lapeer County. The group is run completely by teens. Our primary mission is to discover areas of concern to young people in the community, and to grant monies to groups whose projects address those concerns. Working together, HIGGLY members volunteer their time to assess community needs, study issues important to youth, report their findings to community leaders and evaluate proposals requesting funds for youth-oriented programs. The group is also able to be proactive in the community, and be a catalyst for positive change.

Since it's inception HIGGLY has been involved in the following projects:

•Written & published the Youth Yellow Pages; distributed county-wide by the LFC3

•Participated in the state-wide Public Land Clean-up effort

•Participated in informational gatherings held by the Lapeer County Community Foundation board members to help publicize the Foundation

•Served as the selection committee for one of the Community Foundation's scholarship funds

•Taken on representative membership on the Safe Community Coalition. This group works to reduce risk factors in the community, such as drunk driving and underage drinking.

•Participated in the Department of Senior Activities CHORES project

•Negotiated to create and implemented on Saturday night per month at the Lapeer Rec Center for a Teen Night - we called it TEEN ZONE - beginning in September '99

•Served as presenters and facilitators at the 1999 Lapeer County Student School Improvement Forum. The topic was community involvement.

•Planned a Youth Leadership Seminar

•Attended training put on by the Council of Michigan Foundations in the areas of grant-making, focus groups, leadership and assessment.

HIGGLY has awarded the following grants:

•Awarded a grant to Americorps to help start a 4-H group in Lapeer City schools
•Awarded a grant to Lapeer East SADD Club for an anti-drug & alcohol speaker at two school assemblies
•Awarded a grant to Christian Family Services for drug prevention activities at area middle schools.
•Awarded a grant to the KIND program to sponsor a family for services
•Awarded a grant to fund Teen Zone Program
•Awarded a grant to LCS for purchase of guitars for elementary music program
•Awarded a grant to North Branch Girl Scouts for a mentoring program

What does the Youth Advisory Committee do?

•We survey other high school students. The most important issue for teens in the Fall of 2004 was stress

•Then we send out grant applications to non-profit organizations (like churches, schools, and community groups). We ask them to tell us about a program or project that addresses one of our identified issues.

•When all the applications come back, we decide which programs sound like they would benefit the kids most, and divide up the money we have to give out (easier said than done!!)

•Then we present what we've decided to adults on the Lapeer County Communtity Foundation Board of Trustees for approval. Then the organization gets the money!!

•We also do community service to help out a variety of organizations in the community, and we can plan our own programs to address teen issues.

What is required of committee members?

•Commit tour time and attend regularly scheduled meetings

•Learn about youth needs and assets in your community

•Make decisions about granting funds to youth projects

•Work with adults and show adults that youth are a valuable community resource

•Be involved in community service

•Be open to opportunities for personal growth-thinking about your role as a leader now and forever

•Make a difference in your community

Office: 810-664-0691
Email: lccf@charterinternet.com