The Huron County Community Foundation Youth Advisory Committee (YAC) is prepped and ready for a large undertaking: surveying every 7th, 9th, and 11th grade student in the county. Just like the Foundation surveyed community stakeholders in 2014 to hear about the role the Foundation should play in Huron County's future, the YAC is taking on the same task for area youth! Every three years, YACs across the state of Michigan perform "Needs Assessments" of their local students. The HCCF YAC customized an online survey, taking under 10 minutes to complete, that asks the students about issues like alcohol, drugs, peer to peer relationships, and technology resources. The Needs Assessment is important to the YAC because it will help determine their awareness projects for the next three years and help them allocate their grant dollars.

The YAC is comprised of students from each of Huron County's high schools. These YAC students will be administering the survey in their schools. This truly is about the YAC students wanting to know what issues are facing Huron County teens and how this group can best help to bring awareness to those issues. The YAC is led by their new advisor, Emily Polega, and will be approaching school administrators soon to start the process. Polega said, "I am excited to take on the role of YAC advisor and look forward to working with the YAC students to help guide them in their grant making and programming to meet the needs of our area youth." Upon completion of the survey, results will be published on the Foundation's website, in a press release, and disseminated back to the school administrators of participating schools. Huron County Community Foundation Executive Director Mackenzie Price noted, "This is a great opportunity for our YAC to get the honest opinions of their peers on issues high school students face every day and give their classmates a chance to be heard." Check back for survey results in Spring 2015.