Sunbury, North Carolina – Gates County Community Partnership (GCCP), a nonprofit dedicated to the educational and social development of local youth, has been awarded a grant from Roanoke Economic Development’s Sustainable Forest Land Retention Youth Program. With this funding, GCCP aims to enrich the learning experiences of area high school students.
The Sustainable Forest Land Retention Youth Program’s mission is to educate and increase awareness among students, particularly those who are socially disadvantaged, about the vital fields of science, technology, engineering, agriculture/forestry, and mathematics, as they connect to the environmental sciences and related professions.
With the grant, Gates County Community Partnership aims to inspire young minds to tackle environmental challenges and promote positive social change through stewardship that fosters sustainability both locally and globally. Programming will also seek to prepare participants to lead lives as environmentally literate citizens, fully embracing sustainability as a core value.
Among the key activities facilitated by the grant will be curriculum instruction tailored to environmental science, supplemented by an exemplary visit to a university with strong environmental science and environmental studies programs. The visit will take place outside of the region to expand the educational and cultural horizons of participating students.
Sandra Jordan Branch, Director of the Gates County Community Partnership, expressed her gratitude and excitement about the initiative, stating, “We are thrilled and deeply thankful to Roanoke Economic Development for this generous grant. It provides an invaluable opportunity to inspire our young people to engage with the pressing environmental issues of our time, empowering them with the knowledge and passion needed to make a real difference in the world.”