Members of the Pendleton High School CommuniCare Club walk along Southwest Byers Avenue in Pendleton while filming B-roll for the CommuniCare Virtual Grant Awards Ceremony set to air on KGW in June.

PENDLETON — Gathered around a table recently, students from Pendleton High School’s CommuniCare Club reflected on a year of hard work.

The students looked back on the hours of dedication drafting and finalizing of their mission statement, interviews with nearly half a dozen different charitable organizations and the decision-making process behind allocating $15,000 in grants as a part of the CommuniCare program.

The April meeting served as an opportunity to film interviews for the CommuniCare Virtual Grant Award Ceremony to be aired on KGW on Thursday, June 17, at 8:00 p.m and was only the second time since the start of the school year the group had met in person.

“It’s definitely been a lot more difficult than years past,” said PHS senior Katie Kelm.

While the club usually operates before or after school, the changes to distance learning and unusual schedules made it difficult to find times to meet, Kelm said.

“Finding time that works with everyone’s schedule has been pretty challenging but we’ve been able to do it successfully,” she said.

Over the last 23 years the statewide CommuniCare program has granted more than $1.8 million to 354 nonprofit organizations and school programs, according to the program’s website. The program is made up of 28 schools and 47 grant-making groups across the state. Locally, the program operates at Pendleton High School, Nixyaawii Community School and Hermiston High School, though Hermiston deferred participation for the 2020-21 school year.

Kelm and the other students involved in the program chose to focus on granting money to organizations focusing on accessible health care and immigration.

“The CommuniCare students at Pendleton High School will be granting money to organizations that believe in accessible medical and mental health care, services for refugees and immigrants, and addiction support in rural areas, focusing on Umatilla County,” their mission statement reads.

The group goes on to cite the COVID-19 pandemic for the focus it has brought to socioeconomic inequalities and mental and physical health issues as key in their decision to support these ideals.

The group distributed funds to Morrison Child & Family Services (the El Paso Program), Immigration Counseling Services, and Lines for Life for their work in mental health and immigration. Although all three organizations are based in Portland, the students selected them for the services they provide that directly impact Umatilla County.

The ability to distribute funds so widely was made possible by a higher amount of money ceded to the students to distribute from the organization, according to Kelm

“In terms of money we definitely have a lot more this year,” she said. “Usually we only have around $10,000 or $11,000 but it’s been super cool having more money and being able to help our community more and make a bigger impact.”

Pendleton senior Riley Brown added the club had given her the opportunity to learn more about the surrounding community and the work that nonprofits do.

“It can be pretty easy to get stuck and not know how to help and feel like you can’t have much of an impact,” he said. “But then actually doing the research and seeing the organizations around us was a rewarding experience.”

Building a community

Among those attending the April event was Jordan Schnitzer, whose parents, Harold and Arlene Schnitzer, founded the organization in 1997. Schnitzer reflected on the ideals his parents founded the organization on and how people help make a community what it is.

“My parents’ idea was that a city is just made of buildings right? Smaller town, small buildings, bigger towns, bigger buildings — but without the people, it’s just a bunch of bricks and mortar,” he said. “When you have people, that’s what adds character to a community.”

Schnitzer went on to add the program’s key goal is community involvement and spurring a desire to help your community at a young age.

“If you’re involved working with others in the community and you work some community good, it makes you feel good about yourself and then you’re able to go back to your own problems with a better perspective and have a healthier attitude about it and feel a greater sense of self worth and self respect, he said.”

Bringing philanthropy to the classroom

Unlike Pendleton High School, Nixyaawii Community School operates its CommuniCare program as a part of a year-long philanthropy class, according to Zach Brandsen, the teacher in charge of Nixaawii’s CommuniCare program.

“It’s definitely been a challenge like everything else in the world this year,” he said.

While students at Nixyaawii have been able to hold in-person classes and discuss their mission statements and grants, they began the year virtually and have had to do away with site tours and other in-person activities surrounding the grant-making process.

Despite the difficulties, Brandsen said the removal of fundraising requirements and the students’ hard work helped pull everything together.

“There’s this stereotype of high school students not wanting to get involved but that’s just not correct,” he said. “Every year we do this I’m really inspired by my students.”

One of those students is Nixyaawii senior Adilia Hart, who has been involved with the program since her freshman year. Hart said the program has changed her perspectives on what students can accomplish and her goals in life in general.

“Being able to give back and knowing that you’re actively doing something about the issues in the world really opened my eyes,” she said.

While Hart said she missed the site visits of previous years, this year’s program was structured differently, allowing her to be more involved in every facet of the grant-making process.

“I got to contribute more and be a leader to the other students,” she said.

According to Hart, one of the most difficult aspects of the class, after developing a mission statement, is trying to stick to that statement and focus on grant making.

“There are students out there who are passionate about many different things and we want to help everyone,” she said. “But we have to look at how it fits and applies to our mission statement.”

This year’s Nixyaawii CommuniCare class focused on nonprofits that work to quash employment and education discrimination for people of color and people in the LGBTQIA+ community

“The grant makers of Nixyaawii Community School are deeply concerned about realizing justice for people of color and people in the LGBTQIA+ community who have experienced discrimination for far too long,” their mission statement reads.

The class went on to add it planned to prioritize grants to groups working to address these issues in Umatilla, Union and Morrow counties but would consider applications from other entities from around the state.

Nixyaawii students granted a total of $15,000 across the Basic Rights Education Fund, Friends of the Children: Portland, College Possible and SMART Reading.

“I loved being a part of it and it really changed my perspectives on what I wanted to do in life,” Hart said. “I enjoyed leaving my mark and hope the younger classmen take my lead after us.”