IRON MOUNTAIN, Mich. (WZMQ) – In response to the staggering suicide risks among young adults, ‘The Cure’ Student Leadership Alliance (SLA), part of an after-school mentoring program, initiated its first annual Holiday tree sale. The event garnered tremendous community support, featuring contributions from local talents like Bryan Drewyor of One Human Band, and vendors like Black Ridge Roasterie, Open Door Life Coaching, and Rustic Stone Jewelry.
Peyton Johnson, an NMU student and member of the Student Leadership Alliance (SLA), highlighted the significance of their role, not just in spreading Christmas cheer but also in mentoring and making a positive impact on mental health.
Johnson shared, “We got together for a Christmas celebration, and we’re putting together selling Christmas trees and baked goods. We invited a lot of vendors, and they’re doing Holiday family photos for everyone. We got a special visit from the North Pole, which is super cool. It’s really exciting that us as kids got to be a big part of this. For our community to be together, and spread the Christmas cheer together. Being part of the SLA has really made me feel like I’m actually helping people, and it’s nice that it gets to be fun too.”
Johnson emphasized the welcoming and warm environment of the SLA, where stereotypes are left at the door, fostering connections and friendships.
“I’d say it’s a way for students to be able to share not only just about mental health, and people that struggle – but more like people mentor kids who really need help, and to be able to be those mentors that people can look up to and learn from you,” Johnson stated, adding, “and I think that everyone who is a part of the student leadership alliance is so welcoming, so warm, so helpful – and I’m really blessed to have this great group of girls, guys, and everybody. [The SLA members] are so eager to help out throughout the community, and I couldn’t ask for a better place…So, I would definitely say that our goal is to just spread the cheer, and community for everything that we do. More than just the Christmas stuff, and just to make a difference.”
Johnson said that the Christmas tree sale was the thing she has most been looking forward to.
“This is it for me. I am very excited about this, because I just feel like it’s been a long time coming. Everyone works really hard to get this together… and even setting up the lights took a lot of work. It’s really nice to be here, and I’m excited to see what else ‘The Cure’ can do, and what other things we have in store,” announced Johnson.
Johnson concluded: “I would just say like a little bit of a wrap up – that it’s really nice to see all the SLA people join up from younger ages to college-level students who are home for the holidays like me, which is super cool that we can still get in touch when we’re home. That’s one of my favorite things, is that there’s always a place for me when I’m home for the weekend or home for break, there’s always something to do. People are always willing to help, and it’s really nice to stay connected.”
Gavyn Laydon, a junior at Kingsford High School and SLA member, shared the group’s aim to contribute to the community, earning volunteer hours for school while fostering a sense of involvement and camaraderie. Mya Watkins expressed the importance of the SLA in mentoring youth on various aspects of health and its role in creating a bigger asset for the community.
“So today we’re doing a little Christmas celebration, selling trees, baked goods trying to raise some money for the [SLA],” shared Laydon, who informed that he is looking for more volunteer opportunities, and to help out in his community.
Laydon relayed, “Every time we come here and work on stuff, we’re tracking volunteer hours to put towards school. Just for school in general, like colleges, volunteer hours for graduation, things like that.”
Some of Laydon’s favorite memories thus far with ‘The Cure’ include coming together with friends and making and serving food. “I’ve been here a couple of times, so earlier in the year we did some eating gatherings. We made waffles, or one night we made chili. That was always fun. We watched a movie. So I was there with a couple of my buddies just eating and hanging out,” he reminisced, adding, “And Heather [Ruesch] and all the other volunteers make food, and they give it to us a lot.”
Looking ahead, the SLA members expressed their eagerness to continue contributing to events like the tree sale, aiming to help younger kids and promote community involvement. Mya Watkins and Callie Alwine, who hold esteemed positions within their school’s Senior Class, both members of the SLA, plan to work with The Cure and other organizations to create more volunteer opportunities for seniors in Kingsford.
“So the student leadership alliance is such an important organization within The Cure,” Watkins expressed, “and we work to mentor the youth with their mental, emotional, spiritual and physical health, and we think it’s so important. We love being part of this group, helping out – helping to fundraise for such an amazing organization.” Some particularly impactful memories for Watkins involve mentoring younger kids in her community one-on-one. She shared memories of playing games, and drawing.
Watkins and Alwine are in awe of all the community support that showed up to the tree sale to support what the Student Leadership Alliance is doing.
“I think it’s so important, and it gets more people involved to know about The Cure… to just make it a bigger asset in our community. When other people are involved, it gets the word out to more people, and it leads to just more involvement,” expressed Watkins.
Callie Alwine shared plans to continue mentoring younger kids in her community for as long as she can… “Just continue helping, I mean we want to help to do more events just like this.. And continue to help younger kids in our area, and encourage them as they grow up,” Alwine stated.
Watkins added her vision of what’s next for the SLA members, “We want to keep working, keep growing, and we want to stay a part of the Student Leadership Alliance as long as we can.”
Currently, a low monthly membership allows students ages 10-24 access to the after-school program with family discounts for siblings. Day passes are available as well. The low cost helps The Cure to keep its doors open, and continue its mission of serving community youth, but the cost can be a barrier to some families. The ultimate goal is to minimize or eliminate costs for students to access the after-school program, which is why The Cure is asking for help from the community to help ensure a healthy and happy environment for young adults in the community.
The Cure’s ultimate goal is to make their after-school program more accessible to students, minimizing or eliminating costs. Heather Ruesch, The Cure’s Executive Director, shared details about an upcoming banquet on December 7th, featuring a Silent Auction fundraiser and real-life impact stories from program beneficiaries. The focus is on gaining community support through monthly donorship, aiming for 300 new donors pledging to commit to giving $25 or more a month by 2024.
The teens’ year-end banquet is their second annual “Night of giving”. The event will be hosted at Venue 906 in Kingsford, and tickets to the event are $25.
Ruesch emphasized the shift to being 100% community-funded, steering away from grants to preserve the program’s camaraderie.
“We’re not doing a big financial ask,” remarked Heather Ruesch, The Cure’s Executive Director, “like you normally would do at a banquet. We’re just really wanting to gain more support through monthly donorship. The goal is to have 300 new people [or businesses/organizations] in 2024 giving $25 a month or more.
The decision was influenced by the desire to maintain a personal relationship with students, rather than becoming overly focused on meeting grant requirements. The approach reflects a commitment to the program’s core values and community engagement over technicalities.
“There’s a ton of grants available,” explained Ruesch, “but I don’t like the way that the program was going as we started to have to put things in place in order to write grants. We lost a lot of the camaraderie that you saw here tonight, and it became too technical. There was a lot of anxiety with it too, because your focus switches from having a relationship with the student, to becoming an educational resource or a mentoring resource for a program that focuses on all of these different things, and it’s like you’re checking off the list every day.
To purchase tickets for The Cure’s end of year banquet, called the ‘Night of Giving’, which are just $25 per person, visit:
There are numerous volunteer opportunities for adults in the community to contribute as well. Find out more by calling The Cure at:
906-828-1643
For more information about ‘The Cure’ after school programming, visit:
thecureim.org
