Northmen Den Youth Pantries Inc
Final Grant Report for
Fiscal agent if applicant is not tax exempt:
Tax ID Number:
86-2073121
Contact First Name:
Contact Last Name:
Kathy
Petersen
PO Box 2085, Petoskey, Michigan, 49770
Address:
Email:
231-622-8044
Phone Number:
Project Name:
Toiletries & Shoes for Pellston MS & HS Girls
Project start and end dates:
Friday, September 8, 2023
Friday, May 31, 2024
Amount Granted From Hestia:
$
4000
Project results and Impact
How many girls/women have been served by the project during this project year?
There are 238 middle and high school students attending Pellston's middle/high school, 45% of whom are girls, thus 107 girls. 62% of all students are economically disadvantaged. Sixty girls are registered to visit and Pellston's Hornet's Nest is open each Friday. Last Friday, April 19, 98 students visited it to shop, but some weeks in the winter, we would see 120 students on a Friday.
Thus, by the end of the 2023-2024 school year, which lasts 34 weeks, the impact on girls that we served on a continuing basis will be 2312 girls aged 11-18.
Goal of the Project
Did you meet your program goals for the grant period?
If yes, how do you know? Please describe any program evaluation you use:
If no, please describe current barriers and how you are working to overcome them:
Hestia's $4,000 grant provided an additional $120 weekly for girls' toiletries and shoes. There are six weeks of school left to buy more shoes and toiletries. The total cost, including your grant amount, for the Hornet's Nest is $1,200 weekly, which is $40,800 annually. The poverty among Pellston's middle and high school students is alarming, especially with the number of youth needing their hair, bodies, and clothes washed; we include one small bottle of detergent in our weekly expenses.
To learn how impactful our pantry program is, we are developing a pre-and post-survey to begin in the upcoming fall school year. We are writing a post-survey for youth pantry students to learn if and how each category of food, toiletries, new clothing (including shoes), and school supplies impacted their young lives. Each student will take a pre-survey when they register at the beginning of the 2024-2025 school year. We will also do a similar survey for teachers and staff. These survey data will help us not just use the empty shelves or the cost of the food, toiletries, & new clothing on the impact but also significant data from the students and teachers.
Do you have a story of how your program positively changed participant's situation, behavior, or knowledge?
If so, please share it:
Watching the girls discuss the brand and smell of the shampoos and body washes is fun. It's as though they are in a large department store's perfume and make-up department rather than in a youth pantry. Even the boys love taking the lids off deodorants and body washes to choose the smell they like.
One girl did mention to a volunteer that her new pair of sneakers would help her mom's budget. These children know that money is tight and will wear too-small or falling-apart shoes rather than putting extra stress on their mother, father, grandma, or family paycheck.
Sustainability
Will this project continue?
If so, how will it be funded?
If not, why not?
People understand that toiletries, clothing, and shoes are essential for kids. But shoes are expensive to buy. Walmart shoes are of low quality and fall apart quickly. Meijer and Dunham's shoes are more costly but are of better quality, but prices range from $40 to $75. We will do online fundraising on Facebook on Fridays, asking people to help an 11—to 18-year-old student get a new pair of shoes. The requested donation amount will be $15, and we hope to raise $500 for each.
We also plan to have food and toiletry boxes in grocery stores beginning this July 2024.
Public Relations
How did you publicize this grant?
Please list any examples.
Due to the expense of printing our 2023 Annual Report, we are putting it on our website for people to review it for the whole year. Hestia's logo is on our Corporate/Service Organizations Sponsors page. We are finishing it up this week at www.northmendens.org.
Summary Comments
Your $4,000 grant was so helpful for the many Pellston girls' needs. Being so far, even though it's only fourteen miles to Petoskey. I remember Jon Wilcox telling me one Friday when he visited the Middle School's Northmen Den, "Kathy, eighty percent of these kids have never walked downtown Petoskey." I'm sure Pellston's percentage is higher. Thank you for your continued support and your mission to allow girls to become who they are meant to be.
Grant Final Budget Form
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