Growing a Generation That Gives Back: How a Local Grant Is Expanding Youth Service in Stillwater

Across the Stillwater area, students are stepping up to serve—supporting local nonprofits, helping neighbors, and discovering the difference they can make in their community. Through Ponies Care, these hands-on experiences are building empathy, leadership, and a deeper sense of belonging.

A 2025 Youth Enrichment Grant from the Stillwater Area Community Foundation, a local affiliate of the St. Croix Valley Foundation, is helping expand these opportunities across the district.

Ponies Care, which is facilitated through Stillwater Community Education, allows students across the school district to discover the impact they can have on their community.

The program weaves hands-on service into out-of-school and summer programming. The result is a meaningful blend of learning and action, where students don’t just hear about community needs, they respond to them.

Elementary students start with the summer program SLICE (Summer Learning In Community Education), promoting empathy, responsibility, and belonging through early service experiences. By introducing service early, Ponies Care fosters kindness, shaping character and fostering a culture of sharing. Activities like kindness rocks and welcome cards teach students that small acts of care can have a significant impact on others.

Middle school students deepen their learning by working with local nonprofits, giving them insight into the challenges facing their neighbors. They collaborate with organizations like Community Thread on the Holiday Hope initiative and Washington County for foster care projects. Behind the scenes, they learn how programs operate, how resources are coordinated, and why every detail matters.

Then, they roll up their sleeves. They assemble blankets and bags filled with essential items for children entering foster care, and craft small but powerful tokens of encouragement, kindness rocks, that remind recipients they are seen and valued.

This layered approach, introducing service early and building leadership over time, is intentional. It’s also where the partnership between school resources and Foundation funding becomes especially powerful.

Jennifer Andress, Community Education Enrichment Coordinator and Ponies Care Director, explains how these experiences are shaping students’ empathy: “By connecting students with real community needs and giving them the tools to respond, we’re helping grow a generation that leads with empathy, generosity, and a deep sense of belonging. Students at every grade level find these experiences rewarding. They learn that even kids living in poverty still want things. The participants discover why their contributions matter and that they can make a difference.”  

Grant support helps Stillwater Schools Community Education expand these opportunities by providing materials, supporting partnerships, and creating space for students to engage in consistent, meaningful service.

“When young people are given the opportunity to serve, they don’t just help meet immediate needs—they begin to understand their role in building a stronger community,” said Tom McCarty, Chair of the Stillwater Area Community Foundation Advisory Board. “Programs like Ponies Care show what’s possible when we invest in both youth and collaboration. We’re not only supporting meaningful projects today—we’re helping shape compassionate, engaged citizens for the future.”

The impact is visible, not just in the items created, but in the students themselves.

Colton, a middle school participant in both Holiday Hope and Washington County projects, shares, “It felt good organizing the gifts and just knowing that kids get these presents that are really cool for Christmas.”

Educators and program leaders have watched students grow more confident, more curious, and more aware of the world around them. What begins as a simple act, tying a blanket or decorating a rock, often leads to deeper questions: Who will receive this? What are they going through? How else can I help?

At its heart, Ponies Care is about more than service projects. It’s about building a generation of young people who see themselves as part of something bigger, and who understand that their time, creativity, and compassion can make a difference.

And it’s about what’s possible when a community comes together to invest in that vision.

By aligning grant support with school programming and nonprofit partnerships, Ponies Care is creating a model for how communities can nurture empathy and engagement from an early age. Each blanket tied, each kit assembled, each message of kindness shared becomes part of a larger story—one where students are not just participants, but contributors.

These moments are shaping a more connected, compassionate St. Croix Valley, and planting the seeds of lifelong service for years to come.