Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Students Stand Up does more than just talk about philanthropic work.
Their mission is to actually go out and do it.
That could include helping the Roving Chef prepare meals. Volunteering at Our Father's House. Or making care packages for people at the Beaman Home.
SSU was founded approximately 2-1/2 years ago by then-Warsaw Community High School sophomore Maha Ibrahim. Saturday, Ibrahim - who now lives in California and is transferring to Berkley next semester to study political science - discussed the nonprofit organization she founded over coffee at Courthouse Coffee.
"When I was a sophomore in high school, I got highly involved in the student council there. And it was actually a very good year there. We had quite a few kids that had joined and really had ambitions for things to do and things to change," she said.
"But we found that the more kids that got interested, the more difficult it became because really the only outlet here, organizationally speaking, was student council. There really wasn't a lot of other groups. It was really sports and then student council."
The most members the student council could have is 43 - by election.
"So the middle of my junior year, I parted with student council and really came up with the name in my second period history class and it just started going from there."
Right away, she knew the organization would be community service-oriented. "As we went on, we started encompassing more things than we expected," she said.
Along with community service projects, Ibrahim said, they found out that when the kids are organized, "they can really do anything for themselves."
With that in mind, not only does SSU continue to do community service projects but they also target projects that "service their own generation, their own class," such as Friday's MayDay Music Fest at the Kosciusko County Fairgrounds.
The organization is primarily kids from Warsaw. "The way we see it is, instead of doing it by districts, we just really do it by the location the kids live. If it's easier for them to make a meeting in Warsaw, we just base it in Warsaw.
"We had a lot of Tippy Valley kids involved the last two years. The ones that were involved graduated and we were thinking of actually starting up meetings in the Tippecanoe Valley school district so Tippy Valley could really have its own chapter. And that's really how we grow. We don't grow by going to each different school and soliciting membership. We solicit membership as a whole and then when we get enough members who live in a different locale, we start meetings there."
The organization is currently just for high school students. They have been looking into going into other high schools in other counties and other states. "What we want to do eventually, our goal is to have a middle school level and a college level," she said.
One way the organization is looking to do that is when current members graduate from high school and go to college, they can take SSU with them and start up chapters in college.
SSU has the paperwork to become an official nonprofit organization but as of yet, due to the lengthy process required to become a legally-recognized nonprofit, "we haven't filled it out yet. ... We want to do that in the future. Really, we just haven't had the need to yet. It is a lengthy process, it is an important process, but we've been able to keep it so personalized so far, all the kids know each other, they bring their friends and their friends bring their friends, that we haven't had the need to sit down and set things in stone. I'm sure that will happen in the next two years though," Ibrahim said.
The organization has a 10-member board that fluctuates in size depending on how many projects are going on at that time. They aren't elected but informally selected by their peers. "The way we've always said it is a position means you have a specific job," she said.
The person who takes charge of an event is the person who's most excited about the project. At the meetings, a chairperson is selected informally who helps the meetings stay organized. "No titles, no roles," she said.
Ryan Francis, a WCHS student, is the organization's treasurer. Fund-raisers are usually held before a project begins, and in the past funds have never been substantial. With Friday's fund-raiser, however, that raised approximately $1,000, a checking bank was opened by Ibrahim Saturday for the group. To use funds for any project, the treasurer and one other member must sign off on the funds.
Adults play limited roles in SSU. Dan Kuhn, WCHS teacher, is the formal sponsor but he is at meetings only when invited.
"The bulk of our support from the adult community has come from outside members that aren't official sponsors or advisers to SSU that have just really been into the idea of kids getting out and helping. Suzie Light at the (Kosciusko County Community) Foundation has given these kids tremendous support. ... We just really have a history of adults like that helping out. ... The adults in the community have been really receptive in helping out when they hear about us and asked for assistance. We really try to keep it a 'hands-off' approach and have the kids come to the adults instead of the adults come to the kids," Ibrahim said.
The organization meets at a variety of places, and attendance is never taken. Donations are accepted but are currently not tax- deductible. All money donated goes for projects as there are no administration costs.
Any students interested in the organization can call Ibrahim at 574-265-3288 or Abby Ahlersmeyer at 267-0053.
Even in talking about the organization, Ibrahim said it is something that "has to be seen," not just told about.
