"A community is more than just a town on a map. A community is a place where one is born, raised, nurtured, taught, and loved. It is a place where the most beautiful memories are created and where the most tragic events occur. A community is like a colorful woven basket; weaved with all types of people, places, and things.” – Cali Saunders.
The Montgomery County Community Foundation sponsored, for the first time, an Essay Contest in honor of Community Foundation Week, November 12-18. We invited 8th grade students from all three county schools to participate and write an essay that incorporated the themes of why it is important to give back to the community and what have they done to make a difference. An outside judge looked at the submitted essays and chose an overall top winner and a runner-up.
The Foundation is so pleased to announce that Cali Saunders, 8th grade Tuttle Middle School student was chosen as the top winner, and that Sarah Marnell, 8th grade Northridge student was our runner-up. Tuttle received a $250 MCCF grant award and Cali was given a $100 MCCF grant that she could award to a local nonprofit agency of her choice. Cali chose the Family Crisis Shelter and Andy Ford, Director, was excited that she chose this organization and happy to accept the grant.
As runner-up, Sarah was given a $50 MCCF grant that she could direct to a local nonprofit, and she chose Faith Alliance as her recipient. Debbie Schavietello, on behalf of Faith Alliance, can be seen in this photo, along with Sarah, accepting this award. In Sarah’s essay, she described how she had material and emotional assets in life that others lack, and the toll those circumstances can have on a person. She vividly described it like this, “Most of my life was about being a kid. Having parents to care for me, food on the table, a house to live in, clean water to drink . . . I was never thinking of what others go through. How my friend had her dad one week and her mom the next. That my other friend and his family were living on food stamps for their dinner until they ran out for the week and relied on school lunches."
These young ladies understand philanthropy and their perspective on giving paves the future of our community with hope. To read the full story, as well as the essays written by Cali and Sarah, please click here.