Vanessa Lynch, a second-grade student at Aylesworth Elementary School in Portage has been awarded a Sodexo Foundation Youth Grant through YSA (Youth Service America). The grant will support Lynch in leading a community service project she calls Take a Bite Out of Hunger.
Lynch will host a bake sale and game day on Saturday, April 16 from 11:00am to 1:00pm. The event is open to the public and will include a bounce house, face painting, kids games and a performance by Ballet Folklorico Tapatio of Northwest Indiana. The event will be held at Aylesworth, located at 5910 Central Avenue. Proceeds will be donated to the Backpack Program at Portage Township Schools, a Food Bank of Northwest Indiana program that provides children in need with a backpack of food to take home on the weekends.
Miss Lynch is one of 125 young leaders across the country awarded $400 grants to organize projects to help end childhood hunger. Lynch stated, "I'm so happy to have this opportunity to help people. I like to volunteer but you always have to be at least 18 years old. My mom told me if I got this grant, I would have to do all the work, so I did. I met with a lot of business people and I'm very excited that Portage Custom Wear, Braces for All Ages, and Bounce House Kingdom are sponsoring my project, and Marsha's Sweet Stuff is donating delicious cupcakes for us to sell. I have a lot of volunteers baking, including the kids in the Kindness Club at my school." When asked what her goal was for this project, Lynch responded, "My goal is to raise $700 so kids can be happy and not have to worry about food."
Lynch joins millions of other young people around the world as part of Global Youth Service Day, April 15 to 17, 2016. Now in its 28th year, Global Youth Service Day provides an opportunity for young people to find their voice, take action, and make a positive impact in their communities. As the largest service event in the world, Global Youth Service Day is celebrated in more than 135 countries and all 50 states.
"As communities are challenged by the reduction in public resources, it makes our vision of a hunger-free America more difficult to attain," said Robert A. Stern, chair, Sodexo Foundation. "Each Sodexo Foundation Youth Grantee is doing their part to tackle an issue that directly affects one in five of their peers. It will be through their actions and ingenuity that we will one day see an end to childhood hunger in America."