SCRANTON, Pa. — Members of the Scranton Area Community Foundation and the United Nations Association-Northeastern Pennsylvania Chapter presented groups of area high school students with checks for $1,000.
The money comes from the Global Development Project Fund, which supports projects in local schools and community-based organizations that promote global awareness, citizenship, and development. Out of all the applicants, four groups were chosen.
"What we wanted to do was give them the resources to undertake projects in their schools and communities that would have an impact on their greater world," said Joe Riccardo of the United Nations Association.
"It's very good to help the environment. Not only do we stay in it, but to provide for living animals and help with their needs to survive, just like us," said Starlette Cabral, a senior at Riverside High School.
Riverside High School students will be helping clean up trash along the Lackawanna River Heritage Trail in their community. The students will repurpose plastic waste and debris from the Lackawanna River into artwork.
"Make this like this with hexagons, and we're going to recycle paper and put art and stuff on that as well as trash that we got from the Lackawanna River," said junior Courtney Stubaus.
The Abington Heights Period Club was formed five years ago to provide menstruation education and products to people in need locally and in poor countries throughout the world.
"Our previous efforts have been based on donations mostly, although we sometimes use fundraised money to purchase products, so this is a whole other amount of money that we can use to buy a lot more products and hold more community outreach programs," said club member Maisy Earl.
The two other grant recipients were Dunmore High School's Storymaker Project and the nonprofit Hexagon Project.
The next round of applications for the Global Development Project Fund will open up next spring.
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