Santa Maria Community Services recently received a generous donation from the M.O.R.E. (Men, Organized, Respectful, and Educated) club at Dater High school. The club previously raised funds for two other nonprofit organizations and selected Santa Maria as their third. To raise funds, the M.O.R.E. club sold animal crackers and Jumex juice during their lunch period, and took donations while spreading the word about their philanthropy project. The young men also volunteered as ushers at a chorus and band concert to take donations and talk to the community.
The philanthropy project raised $360.50 and brought awareness of the programs and services offered at Santa Maria. Students involved in the club include Justin Jackson, Yordy Cabrera, Curtis Simpson, Raphael Hicks and Fernando Lopez, led by Dater High School teacher, Lee Black.
The M.O.R.E club started at Dater High School two years ago as a reactive idea to keep young men out of trouble by allowing them to serve in leadership roles and by offering new opportunities to them.The club serves to engage at-risk youth with the community while involving them with purposeful activities, projects, and philanthropies. The M.O.R.E. program nurtures academic success and strong character development among young men to promote measurable improvements in academic achievement, grade-level promotion, graduation rates and college readiness.
In addition to fundraising, the group participates in college tours and prepares for college readiness by learning how to create a resume and dress properly for interviews. The club is also called on to speak on different issues.
Each of Cincinnati Public Schools’ 26 M.O.R.E. clubs includes after-school programming and monthly and quarterly enrichment opportunities that include such topics as community service, current event discussions, personal visions, conflict resolution, anti-bullying, overcoming adversity, social/emotional learning, learning styles and strength discovery, time management, and social media awareness. Santa Maria is grateful for the hard work the M.O.R.E. club has put into raising funds to support the Price Hill Community, and we thank them for their generous donation.
