Healthy Community Initiative

By Martha Lundin as a Guest Columnist for the Northfield News

Northfield YouthBank has granted $7,390 to five youth-led community projects for 2024-25, including two spearheaded by middle school students.

The theme for this grant round was “level the playing field.” Twelve YouthBank members were involved in the granting process. The projects that received funding are:

• Garden tower at Arcadia Charter School ($1,250). Twelve Arcadia middle school students applied for funds to purchase a garden tower. The school’s small size limits the types of foods available to students, and without a fully-equipped cafeteria and kitchen, students must either bring their own lunches or rely on shelf-stable foods the school provides. YouthBank supported the reconstruction of Arcadia’s outdoor hoop house several years ago, but it isn’t usable during the winter months. The hydroponic garden tower will use less water and energy than a traditional indoor garden system, while still providing students access to fresh greens, herbs, and veggies. Students hope to donate extra produce and also plan to sell herbs to help with the upkeep and purchase of additional seeds.

• Book suggestion box and new books for the Northfield Middle School media center ($1,590). Five Northfield Middle School Youth Center students applied for funds to build a book suggestion box at the middle school media center and purchase 50 new books requested by students. In their application, students talked about the importance of having books available that were chosen by young people. They also said it was important to have those books available at the middle school because students spend most of their time at school during the week, and because it’s more accessible for students who don’t live within walking distance of the public library.

• Youth spring lacrosse camp and equipment ($2,200). Four members of the high school girls’ lacrosse team applied for a grant so that young people could try lacrosse without needing to join a team. With YouthBank’s support, girls’ lacrosse members will host a spring camp for elementary and middle school-aged youth. Funds from YouthBank will also provide the team with 10 lacrosse sticks for use when equipment cost is a barrier for players.

• Equipment for the Nordic Ski Team ($3,600). Northfield’s Nordic Ski Team is co-ed and open to middle schoolers to join alongside high schoolers. This year, several more middle schoolers joined the team. Because equipment is based on the size of the skier, the team lacked the proper equipment for new members. Four Nordic team captains applied for funds to invest in equipment that ensured all skiers had correctly-sized skis and poles.

• Full scholarships for Northfield Robotics Team competitions ($750). The Northfield Robotics Team — RoboRaiders — has traditionally attended only one weekend competition per season. This year, the team will attend two. YouthBank will sponsor six full scholarships so that cost is not a barrier to attending. Eight RoboRaider members applied for the grant and spoke passionately about the benefits of attending and participating in team competitions.

YouthBank is an innovative philanthropy program in which a team of trained youth grant-makers awards funds to youth-led projects that will improve the quality of life in Northfield. For more information, visit healthycommunityinitiative.org/grants/youthbank.