CLACKAMAS, Ore. — Students at Clackamas High School (CHS) are fighting for a brighter future through the grantmaking program CommuniCare. It's a community service program that challenges teens to find an issue they're passionate about and look for ways to improve it.
And this year, students chose to raise funds to help the immigrant and refugee communities in the Portland metro area.
"There's definitely a disparity in the quality of life that we see here with the students every day," said Emily Garza, the event coordinator for the program at CHS. "And we really want to do as much as we can to help ease some of that."
Garza is one of the 1,800 student and grantmaking partners with CommuniCare. The program is currently in 39 schools in Portland thanks to the SchnitzerCARE Foundation which owns CommuniCare. But this isn't just any school group. Students are encouraged to take charge and find solutions to real-life problems within their communities.
"We kind of are the future of this society," said Ethan Parker, a CHS student in the program. "We are the people that are going to be in those bigger decisions later on in our lives."
Students are front and center and make all the decisions, from choosing a mission statement to fundraising efforts, to writing questions and interviewing the nonprofits that applied to receive part of the $12,000 CHS students raised this school year.
"We trust them as adults," said Kristen Engfors-Boess, the CommuniCare program director. "We watch their process from the outside. It's really walking the walk when it comes to youth leadership. We want young people to know that they have a role in solving those issues. That we really welcome their opinions. We're ready for them to step up and take a seat at the table."
And for some students, this year's topic hits close to home. This is especially true for senior Maksym Shershun, a Ukraine refugee who arrived in Portland last January to get away from the war.
"You have no idea how hard it could be to newcomers to this country," said Shershun. "Especially (those) who speak no or very little English. Because I had to face those hardships myself and I had to help my mom a lot with that."
And while students are putting in the work to make a difference in their community they'd like better resources available for immigrants and refugees everywhere.
"I would be glad to see improvements to help newcomers in this country," said Shershun.
Between all 39 Portland Metro schools, students raised over $1 million that will go directly to nonprofits this year. This was all made possible thanks to the 10 times match donations made by the SchnitzerCARE Foundation.
In the last 26 years, the program has raised and distributed nearly $4.2 million to more than 400 nonprofits and schools.