Social work students receive grants to end 2019 on high note

In early December, five graduate students from the School of Social Work were notified that they had received grants for project they have been working on.

Levi Soto was awarded a $1000 Step Up for School Wellness Grant on behalf of Hartford High School (Hartford, Michigan) from the Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation.

The grant program provides students and schools with training, curriculum, equipment, communication tools and external coaches to create a healthy school environment that supports a culture of wellness.

Alyse Lange and Emma Tervonen were awarded a $17,200 grant from the Student Sustainability Grants Allocation Committee for their project, Products for Menstrual Sustainability (PMS).

The project addresses issues associated with sustainability, period poverty, accessibility and stigma by offering education about the anatomical, environmental and global impacts of menstrual cups while providing 1000 menstrual cups for WMU students. The supplier involved is providing an additional 1000 cups to developing countries, doubling the global impact of the project. The project will save $2.4 million over the 10-year lifespan of the menstrual cups; and using the menstrual cups will prevent 6.5 million other sanitary products from winding up in landfills.

Johnny Anderson and Anjeliaca Rhan were awarded a $4,999 grant from the Office of Sustainability Allocation Committee for their Recycle, Reuse, Repurpose Regalia Initiative.

Through this program, or a nominal fee of $10, students will be able to borrow graduation regalia, rather than purchase regalia for one-time use. This alleviates economic burden and is environmentally responsible.