Schools

Alpharetta Charity Needs Votes to Win $50K

AIM for Youth's Yorganic Treasures can help students plant organic gardens at their schools.

Β An Alpharetta-based charity that serves a much wider area is in the running for a $50,000 grant from Tom's of Maine. Supporters need to vote for the AIM for Youth charity and its Yorganic Treasures program to give it a shot at the funds.

Yorganic Treasures was started last year at Woodson Elementary School in Atlanta. Students and the community planted eight organic gardens to not only show kids how to eat healthy, but also to produce products in the garden. The students use the gardens in earth science and other classes as they water the plants and watch them grow.

Once the plants are in full blossom, they can sell them and put the money from the sales back into the project.

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"Or they can utilize those products within the schools," said Alma Davis, the AIM for Youth founder and CEO.

The program even sends chefs to the schools to teach the students and staff how to use their produce.

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Now AIM for Youth is one of 20 finalists eligible for up to $50,000Β in funding as part of Tom’s of Maine’s 50 States for Good program. A public vote, which kicked off at www.50statesforgood.com and runs through Sept. 13, will determine six winners. Five organizations will receive $20,000 in funding and the organization with the most votes will receive $50,000.

Alma Davis, the AIM for Youth founder and CEO, said the idea for AIM came from her childhood and some things she missed out in life that she wants to make sure kids get.

"It goes back to my childhood and some things I had to go through," she said.

She formed AIM–Athletic Improvement and Mentoring for Youth. It tries to cover anything a child needs, particularly in health and wellness, education, mentoring and sports. Professional athletes are enlisted to help teach kids "that there's more to life than sports," she said.

The athletes try to teach children to have their eggs in more than one basket.

In hopes of getting the funding from Tom's of Maine, the organization is identifying the next five schools. Schools in the Atlanta area, Cobb County and across the metro area are being contacted to figure out what schools want to be a part of Yorganic Treasures. Davis said the commitment is needed from not just the students, but also the teachers and the community.

For Yorganic Treasures to work, she said it needs to utilize a lot of its community partners.

"We like to promote other organizations that may have some things that they can bring to the table," Davis said. "All of our projects, anything we do is free."

Most of the work is done from her Alpharetta office, though the organization serves all of Atlanta, she said.

At every event, at least 70 percent of the volunteers are kids.

"The majority of our youth volunteers come from Alpharetta," she said.

Response to Yorganic Treasures has been tremendous, Davis said. The demographics served are not just African American, but also serving Asian and Hispanic families.

Last year some school officials weren't convinced Yorganic Treasures would work.

"They said no way more than 10 to 15 kids would come out on a Saturday," Davis said. "Definitely parents would not be involved."

More than 125 kids and parents came out, however, with 20 to 30 of them being dads.

She said that was enlightening, and that people can't just be written off.

The kids love the garden. Even people in the community were coming out to water the vegetables.

AIM for Youth has done projects in Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, New Orleans, New York and in Ghana, Africa.

AIM recently held its fifth annual summer health festival, offering free health care, not just screenings, along with providing school supplies. Davis said 1,700 children were helped.

"We just go out and find needs," she said.


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