Cowboys legend rolls up sleeves for youth-led project in Midland
Dallas Cowboys legend Darren Woodson and Cowboys cheerleaders Lea and Kylie recently joined a youth-led effort to provide much-needed upgrades to the Midland Children Rehab Center’s (MCRC) equine facility.
But the brightest stars on April 19 were members of the Young Women’s Leadership Academy (YWLA) Students in Philanthropy team, which not only came up with the idea for the community service project, but also successfully advocated to get it funded.
Led by YWLA students Marina Garcia and Grace Muscroft, the youth group formulated a budget and a service plan and visited the site during the planning stages.
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YWLA students then submitted their proposal to the Cowboys Community Captain competition, a new partnership among Chevron, the Cowboys and the Abell-Hanger Foundation that provides a $10,000 grant from Chevron for the project selected as most impactful from among several worthwhile projects developed by youth SIP programs in collaboration with local community organizations.
The YWLA team was one of five student teams from Midland and Odessa whose proposal advanced to the finals of the competition. In November, the student finalists pitched their proposals to a panel of judges from the Cowboys, Chevron and Abell-Hanger Foundation at The Star in Frisco. Earlier this year, Woodson informed the YWLA team via a video message that it had won $10,000 in funding for their project.
On April 19, Woodson and the cheerleaders joined students from YWLA and other local schools’ SIP teams, school officials, MCRC staff, Chevron employees and other community partners to carry out the project, which included upgrades like a fresh coat of paint on the barn fence.
“Leadership through community service is one of our pillars, and we are so grateful for everyone who showed up from school board members, to advisory council members, to our fellow SIP chapters, even the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders,” the YWLA posted on Facebook.
MCRC thanked the students and commended the Dallas Cowboys Community Captain initiative for encouraging teamwork between students and local nonprofits to benefit the community.
“The horses were especially grateful for the upgrades to their facilities,” MCRC officials stated.
In an interview with Newswest9, Marina Garcia, YWLA junior and community co-captain, said her team’s motivation in the project was to support the kids that MCRC serves.
Chevron is proud to partner with these outstanding organizations, students and community members to help MCRC. Our volunteers had a memorable experience supporting a meaningful cause.
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