With a mission to support community initiatives, The LINK Foundation was created as an outreach of LINKBANK. The foundation provides grants for projects that positively impact the local community, and Cornerstone Youth Center recently received one of those grants. The nonprofit youth center, located at 95 S. Wilson Ave., Elizabethtown, will use the funds for its Empower Youth Leadership Initiative, a program aimed at empowering at-risk youths in the community.

Empower will meet from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Thursdays from June 13 through July 25, said Jim Bush, executive director of Cornerstone. Open to students in grades nine through 11, the program is still accepting applications.

"This program will give students opportunities to develop their God-given leadership potential, as well as experience some great summer activities," Bush shared. "Lunch will be provided each day, and each week will feature a field trip and activity that relates to the topic of the week."

Empower will provide workshops, activities, and mentorship opportunities focused on developing skills such as effective communication, teamwork, decision making, and conflict resolution. "By investing in the leadership potential of at-risk youth, we aim to not only empower them as individuals, but also to create a ripple effect of positive change within our community," Bush wrote on the grant application. "As these young leaders grow and flourish, they will become agents of positive transformation, inspiring their peers and contributing to the betterment of their neighborhoods."

Topics covered in the program will range from financial literacy - with lessons such as how to fill out a 1040 tax return - to personal growth, with students taught strategic planning to reach personal, professional or academic goals.

Grant funds will be used to provide meals for students and adult leaders, develop the curriculum, pay guest speakers to share their experiences, and host a graduation ceremony for students and their families at the program's end.

Empower was introduced at Cornerstone Youth Center in the summer of 2017, under the name Man Camp. At the time, it served young men in grades six through 12. The next summer, it moved to another youth center under the same leadership, where it grew, and a complementary girls' program was added.

"This year, we intend to bring this combined program back to Cornerstone under the Empower Youth Leadership Initiative," Bush said. "So, although this program has not been held at Cornerstone for a few years, the program is not a pilot program. It has been successful under the same leadership for several years."

Noting that Cornerstone intends to hold the youth program annually going forward, Bush hopes Empower will have a lasting impact on participants.

"(Students) will be taught the importance of honesty, integrity, character, and giving back to their community," he stated. "They will come away from this program with a better understanding of what it means to be a good person and good citizen, and they will be given the opportunity to become the leaders of the next generation."

For more information on Empower, contact Cornerstone at office@cornerstoneetown.org or 717-367-0000.