ATHENS-Spending $3,000 was not a simple task for teenagers in Athens today (Wednesday, March 16, 2016).
These teens were not on a shopping spree. They were trying to allocate money to projects that would best benefit the City of Athens.
A month ago, Dekko Foundation celebrated its 35th anniversary and sent 35 birthday grants to communities it serves. The City of Athens received $3,500 because of the Mayor’s Office work with youth. Mayor Ronnie Marks tasked the Athens Mayor’s Youth Commission with deciding how to best spend the money.
In February, the Youth Commission decided to keep $500 for Youth Commission expenses and give out the remainder as a grant or grants to non-profits with projects that benefit Athens. The Youth Commissioners scored each application and met Wednesday to determine how much an applicant or multiple applicants would receive.
Commissioner Tori Jean, who participated in Hospice of Limestone County’s Camp Hope after the loss of a loved one and who now volunteers with the bereavement program for children, said she wanted that project to receive a sizable amount of the grant. Camp Hope scored highest among the projects submitted.
Commissioner Devon Simmons said he wanted multiple projects to receive money to get their projects started.
Commissioner Ben Clark had concerns that small amounts of money would not have a meaningful impact on some of the projects.
Police Chief Floyd Johnson
Athens Police Department and City of Athens Relay for Life tied for second highest score. APD’s project was to buy sports balls like footballs, basketballs and soccer balls to distribute to patrol officers. Each shift, officers would randomly stop to hand out a ball imprinted with APD’s contact information and interact with the children, even taking time to toss a football or shoot hoops.
“I see this as an opportunity to build trust among the younger generation we serve and improve our community relationships,” Athens Police Chief Floyd Johnson said.
Two adult members of Youth Commission’s Advisory Council, who also are members of Athens Rotary, offered to pitch Chief Johnson’s project to Rotary for funding so the students could look at funding other applicants.
Mayor Ronnie Marks
Mayor Marks noted that city employees work several months out of the year to raise funds for Relay for Life, and the students could look at funding a different project that needed startup money.
“These students had to offer ideas, give support for their ideas, and learn to compromise as part of this exercise,” Mayor Marks said. “This money from Dekko not only gave our students the chance to learn about needs in our community, but it also gave them the responsibility of spending this money wisely and agreeing on the best way to do that.”
Based on APD and Relay for Life having the opportunity to get funding elsewhere, the students voted and decided on the following projects:
• Camp Hope – $1,000
• Keep Athens-Limestone Beautiful – $400 for reusable litter bags imprinted with the littering hotline. The bags can snap onto strollers, wheelchairs, the back of car seats, etc. and can be readily reached when a person sees litter or needs to temporarily dispose of trash.
• Athens Arts League – $400 for the creation of a piece of art that will also serve as a sign designating a space downtown as an outdoor classroom. Athens Arts League is turning the overgrown lot near Pecan Park into a landscaped area where art camps and other activities can occur downtown.
• Boys and Girls Club – $400 to have their teen group plant fruit trees on Earth Day. The trees will be planted in areas of the city where low-income residents and seniors live to not only beautify neighborhoods but provide a food source.
• MTM Corporation – $400 to combat youth obesity by hosting a walk/run in Athens and providing participants with goody bags that include healthy recipe cards, workout CDs and more.
• Girl Scouts Service Unit 210 – $400 to purchase camping equipment to use for overnight trips where girls learn about the outdoors, team building skills, and more. The Girl Scouts lost their overnight camping site, which closed, and this will allow them to do primitive camping at nearby locations such as Joe Wheeler State Park.
The chosen projects will have to submit reports about their projects as well as invoices and invite Youth Commissioner for a site visit to see the projects.
