Students Receive Leadership Grant

Seven of Milford's young leaders received validation for their ideas Tuesday night, in the form of a $1,000 grant from the United Way of Tri-County.

The group of kids, ranging from ages 7-14, presented a proposed project to benefit members of the . They developed their concept while working with the Juvenile Advocacy Group (JAG) Network's Youth Council.

"Each year they become more aware of how to run a program," said Amy Leone, chairwoman of the JAG Network, which aims to bring the community together to prevent substance abuse. "With the youth leadership curriculum the kids go through in the Youth Council, they learn to run events well."

The children and teens presented in front of a selection panel at the Youth Center Tuesday. Sponsored by the United Way of Tri-County, the Youth Venture program gives youth the opportunity to create and launch their own community-benefiting projects.

The Milford students earned praise—and money—for their concept, "Find Yourself Fridays."

The students responsible for the idea are: John Shehata, 7, Mina Shehata, 11, Michaela Acker, 13, Jill Hickory, 14, Brianna Braza, 10, Melissa Braza, 13, and Torie Glennon, 12.

The first, "Find Yourself Friday" would take place Jan. 28 at the Youth Center. The council would charge a small entrance fee of $2 to keep the event running and pay for programming and safety.

Melissa Braza, a student at , said the Youth Council decided a program needed to be available for both middle- and high school-aged students once a month to focus on various topics. 

Proposed topics included autism, hunger, pollution and homelessness.

After the students' presentation, the event's panelists awarded the youngsters a $1,000 grant to help put into effect their idea.

"The (Youth Venture) program is to empower youth to make a difference," United Way-Youth Venture Partner Specialist Melissa Medeiros said.

The five panelists included Leone, Paul Mina, president of the United Way of Tri-County, Sandra Caproni, a member of the Milford Youth Commission, Nanci Roca, a human resources employee at Milford Federal Savings Bank, and Amy Tamagni of the Milford Youth Commission.

"It gives them empowerment to see what it's like to carry venture projects from the beginning to the end," Mina said.

Brianna Braza, who attends , told the panelists the council's initial goals were to have 30 people attend the first event, raise $120 in admissions and raffles, and to have 70 percent of attendees fill out a survey about the event.

Alyssa Wyman, community organizer for JAG, said the council has applied for a grant with the Milford Youth Center and the United Way for the past two years.

Wyman, along with Jen Ward, who is the SCI AmeriCorps chairwoman, are with the council of students from the beginning. Wyman said her favorite part of the grant program is, "hearing the ideas and letting the kids think outside the box."

"Seeing how far the kids will take the process is also fun," Wyman added.

Wyman and Ward already helped the youths receive a $2,000 grant from Community Partners in Health for the program.

"The main mission is to facilitate student leadership," Ward said.