My Community Cares About its Kids

I am Natalie Sofaly, a senior at McCall-Donnelly High School. For my senior project I am exploring the effect involvement in extracurricular activities and athletics have on youth drug and alcohol abuse. I am also partnering with the Youth Advocacy Coalition (YAC) to create a program that gives scholarships to at-risk or low-income students to cover the participation fee of an extracurricular activity or athletic program. A couple of the main causes of drug and alcohol abuse among teens is a lack of stability at home or simply boredom. This program hopes to provide students with a sense of belonging to their team or community and a positive, healthy way to spend time.

Just a little over six months ago, the McCall-Donnelly and New Meadows areas lost a valuable friend, student, and community member to what is believed to be a substance related motor vehicle accident. The overall goal of this program is to decrease the likelihood of a tragedy like this occurring while improving the overall health and well-being of Valley County’s youth.

To fund this program, an after-school fundraising event will be held at Payette Lakes Middle School on Thursday, November 29th. This event will feature knockerball games and games set up by booths representing some of the programs that the scholarships will go towards.

I hope to raise $1000 to put towards ten scholarships of $100 each. Teachers in the McCall Donnelly School District will determine which students are eligible and will ultimately receive the scholarship

If you have any questions feel free to contact me.
[email redacted]d.org