Thirty-two students from high schools throughout the CSRA have been chosen to serve on the inaugural Youth Board for Goodwill Industries of Middle Georgia and the CSRA.

Members of the board will serve in volunteer capacity for Goodwill.

Applications for the board were sent to all high schools in Richmond and Columbia County, inviting students to apply for the 2015-16 school year. The members, who will meet monthly, will focus on designing service projects and fundraising opportunities for Goodwill while learning leadership skills.

“This bright, diverse group of students represents a broad range of interests and activities from the area’s high schools, but with a common goal of personal development through service to Goodwill,” said Ivey Hall, Goodwill’s Director of Volunteer Services. “This is the first time Goodwill has formed a youth advisory board, and we’re impressed with the quality of students who expressed an interest in participating.” 

The Youth Board’s mission is to spread awareness of Goodwill through service, fundraising and leadership, one teen at a time.

“If you believe you can make a difference in this world, you will make a difference,” said Valerie Rose Vasquez, founder of the youth board and a rising senior at Aquinas High School. “Imagine our world if there was 100 percent employment for those who can work. Imagine our world if poverty was eliminated. That’s the vision of Goodwill. I believe that’s the American Dream,” she said.

Meredith Stiff, retired director of the Goodwill Foundation, will serve as Youth Board advisor.

Members of the inaugural Youth Board and their high schools are:

James Allen, Julia Cooper and Anna Gregg and Kate Sandlin, Evans High School; Tanner Barfield, Justin Gaffney, Enming Gong, Chase Hill, Dorothy McLeod and Sunny Yan, Westminster Schools of Augusta; Hunter Berry and Juliann Fuller, Harlem High School; David Bramble, Alexandria Hill, Amy Sheppard and Jordan Smalley, Augusta Preparatory Day School; Shelby Breitmann, Brandon Collins and Bliss Johnston, Lakeside High School; Caroline Capps, Academy of Richmond County; Yasmine Cook and Jahi Rayton, Westside High School; Ka'Rima Dukes, Grovetown High School; Helena Haynie, Rebecca Helling, Robert Reed and Garrett Singletary, Greenbrier High School; Lauren James, A.R. Johnson Health Science and Engineering Magnet High; Brooks May and Valerie Rose Vasquez, Aquinas High School; and Phoebe Singletary, Augusta Christian Schools.

For more information on the Goodwill Youth Board, contact Goodwill Volunteer Services Director Ivey Hall at (478) 475-9995, or [email protected].