The Contribution Project, an initiative that helps college students make a difference in ways they find meaningful, is expanding to teenagers throughout New York state through a new partnership with 4-H.
Anthony Burrow, director of the Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research (BCTR) and the Ferris Family Associate Professor of Life Course Studies in the College of Human Ecology (CHE), started the Contribution Project on the belief that youth have ideas about how they can meaningfully contribute to their communities and enabling those contributions can lead to positive change for both the community and the individual. Since 2019, it has funded 450 contributions from students at Cornell, Binghamton and Stony Brook universities.
“We started with the most accessible youth (the college students we work with every day), but we also saw the potential for younger adolescents to benefit from a similar opportunity,” said Kristen Elmore, the community-engaged learning coordinator for CHE and assistant director for the Program for Research on Youth Development and Engagement (PRYDE) in the BCTR.
“In some ways, a Contribution Project for adolescents is even more needed than for college students because, on average, adolescents may be in settings that provide fewer resources and less autonomy to pursue ideas they have to contribute to their community. 4-H was an ideal partner in this project because we could also feel confident that youth would have an adult educator to provide autonomy but also some guardrails.”
The new Youth Contribution Project is open to youth aged 12-18 who are enrolled in New York State 4-H programs. It’s run by the PRYDE Scholars, CHE students who are part of a two-year research experience focused on positive youth development and who work closely with CHE faculty and NYS 4-H staff.
For this first year, the PRYDE Scholars selected 22 applications from 4-H’ers across the state for funding. Each individual youth or club received $200 to complete their project with the help of their local 4-H educator.
A group from Orleans County – Hugh Gabalski, Rebecca Asento, Evelyn Paratore, Amelia Paratore, Lyla Neal, Kendyll Kidney, Helen Schofield, Luke Gregoire and Sadie Gregoire –completed a book drive to donate books to kids in their community in need. They worked with their local police department to collect and distributed the books to youth who had encountered abuse or were in the foster care system. “It was a nice opportunity because we were thinking of ways to be more involved in our community as a club,” said Gabalski. Their project was awarded “Most Collaborative” by the PRYDE Scholars.
The “Most Impactful” award went to Alex Boldt, a 4-H’er in Genesee County. He purchased copies of a children’s book written by a disabled teen and distributed them to public school classrooms, with the goal of raising awareness and increasing inclusion of disabled people.
Zachary Maroney, of Ulster County 4-H, earned the “Best Reflection of 4-H Values” award. For his contribution project, Maroney built birdhouses for the local senior citizens in nursing homes to provide beautiful scenery for bedridden patients with the hopes of cheering them up.
“So much of what I’m hearing from these projects is the genuine empathy that youth have for folks in their community,” said Elmore. “It is really powerful to hear all of the impact that youth can have.”
When youth were asked what advice they have for future applicants to the project, Iris Enslow, a Seneca County 4-H member, said, “Just do it. Whether you think your idea is good or not, it will help people in some way.”
For more information on the Youth Contribution Project, visit www.youthcontribution.org.