Success Stories
Junior Achievement of Central Iowa Student Journey Video
YMCA/Girls on the Run Teaches Confidence, Life Skills
Girls on the Run is a life-changing program for 8–13 year-old girls that promotes empowerment by teaching life skills through lessons, training, and running. Girls on the Run began in 1996 in Charlotte, North Carolina and has been in Des Moines since 2008. The program teaches girls about self-confidence and building healthy relationships.
On With Life
Opportunity on Deck - "Can Play"
As a junior in high school, Dylan DeClerck took action when he found out that some kids in his community couldn’t participate in organized sports due to lack of financial means and equipment. Now called “Can Play”, Dylan founded the organization in 2012.
Clive Community Services
While Clive is rated as one of the top Iowa communities in which to live and work, we face the same challenge as every community to help those struggling to meet basic needs.
Junior Achievement’s “JA BizTown,” is a simulated community offering a fun way to integrate lessons on financial literacy and work and career readiness. School educators are provided with materials for in-class lessons before and after visiting JA BizTown. During a 4- to 5-hour simulation on-site with realistic sets of store fronts and business offices, kids are able to learn about various careers and businesses, apply for jobs they’re interested in, and even work in the job for the day to experience what it’s like to be both the consumer and the employee.
With a focus on three core areas of community betterment—Quality of Life, Health and Wellness, and Collaboration—Clive Community Foundation chose Junior Achievement as a grant recipient for its contribution to preparing our youth for successful futures. Thank you to Clive Community Foundation donors for contributing to these hands-on lessons that impact our children’s financial, career and work readiness potential!
As a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping people with brain injuries to live their best life, On With Life also focuses on awareness and education on preventing brain injury. Because Iowa is one of only three states in the nation without helmet regulation in place, On With Life applied for a 2019 Clive Community Foundation grant to help the nonprofit promote its Helmet Awareness Month.
“With COVID-19, we were seeing reports that bikes and helmets had become hard to find since people are spending more time outdoors while social distancing,” said Sara Wilson, On With Life development director. The nonprofit and the Clive Police Department arranged for a day at Greenbelt park to hand out helmets to anyone who showed up and was interested. On With Life raised all the funds to purchase helmets for distribution. “We were absolutely overwhelmed by the interest in the event. The [Clive Community Foundation] grant helped us to purchase some of the helmets that were needed.”
With the three primary focus areas for Clive Community Foundation grants including Quality of Life, Health and Wellness and Collaboration, supporting On With Life as they share the importance of brain injury prevention and education was a perfect fit. Thank you to Foundation donors for funding the opportunity to help keep our community safe!
In 2012, as a junior in high school, Dylan DeClerck took action when he found it unimaginable that some kids in his community couldn’t participate in organized sports due to lack of financial means. That’s when he founded Opportunity on Deck, a nonprofit organization that now provides a variety of sports opportunities at low- to no-cost across the metro. In 2019, DeClerck again saw and acted on a new need—leadership training for teens who had aged out of Opportunity on Deck sports but still wanted to volunteer, learn and grow as coaches.
The experience left lasting impressions, as one young lady shared with DeClerck after finishing the program: Thank you so much for everything you have done for me! You have opened so many more opportunities for my near-future and made sure that I started in a healthy environment.
Most parents recognize that running burns energy and provides great exercise for kids, right? But who knew it helps with social and psychological development and life skills as well?
While Clive is rated as one of the top Iowa communities in which to live and work, we face the same challenge as every community to help those struggling to meet basic needs. Established in 2014, Clive Community Services has been supporting individuals and families with food, clothing, and medical and educational services. In 2019, its food pantry, clothes closet, and free medical clinic served a total of 4,034 people, and the education program provided 105 student contact hours for tutoring.
“The Clive Community Foundation is one of our three major donors. If we didn’t have their funding, we wouldn’t be able to exist,” Horak explained. “We are quite literally feeding, clothing, caring for, and educating the vulnerable in our community. This kind of funding is critical for real work that is happening on the ground.”
As the snow melts for what we hope will be the last time, signs of spring are beginning to appear. Flowers are budding, grass is going from brown to green, and birds are chirping. That’s cause for joy in our community. But alas, as the snow melts, other things begin to appear that don’t bring as much joy. (You know what I’m talking about, right?)
On Monday, October 4, the Clive Community Foundation presented a check to Clive Community Services, in appreciation of their on-going services to our community. Accepting the check for CCS was Stephanie Horak, the organization’s President. Clive Community Services opened its doors in August of 2016.
As year- end approaches, donations to organizations doing great things in our community pour in. And there’s good reason for that. A significant amount of charitable giving happens at the end of the year.
On Saturday, December 11, the Clive Lions Club held their annual Holiday Basket Program that benefits needy families in our community.
Mr. McCoy also stated: “Our company also enjoys hosting the Battle of the Burbs that raises money for our communities’ foundations. That would not be possible without the partnership from Clive. The employees of NCMIC believe in giving back to the community and we are proud to be able to make these contributions which are investments in the future of Clive.”
As many of you are aware, on May 20 of this year there was a serious fire in the building where Clive Community Services was located. The tremendous work they perform in the local community suffered a major disruption.
The 2021 Battle of the Burbs took place on August 7 at the NCMIC headquarters in Clive. The event featured a 5K Run/Walk, a 10K Run, a Kids Run and other activities including face-painting, balloon animals, food trucks, beer, and an obstacle course for the kids.
Five students from the Waukee Schools APEX program (Aspiring Professional Experience) recently completed social media and website enhancement projects for CCF. The students: Sabarish, Sean, David, Jayden, and Bella presented their findings to the Foundation Board. Their recommendations will help to increase overall visibility for CCF. Look for a dynamic new website design and functionality soon. This work by these Student-Associates is an important part of the Foundation’s MISSION RECOGNITION-2022 Initiative.
The final results are in! While Clive won the Championship Belt with the most registrants, the real winner of the Battle of the ‘Burbs 2022, thanks to our runners and walkers and to our tremendously generous sponsors, is our community.
GivingTuesday is a global generosity movement unleashing the power of individual generosity. This event was created in 2012 as a simple idea: a day that encourages people to do good. Since then, it has grown into a year-round global movement that inspires hundreds of millions of people to give, collaborate, and celebrate generosity.