The Catawba County United Way's requirement of a service project each year for the John F Hall XC Invitational has produced some incredibly creative work that has touched the lives of thousands in local communities.
The Rotary Club of Hickory has been so appreciative of teams' projects in the past they are going to increase this year's monetary rewards to $300 for the 1st place project, $250 for 2nd, and $150 for third, which teams can have paid to a nonprofit of their choice.
Service Project reports are due Sept. 26, for those participating.
The Service Project Report you'll need to fill out is below and don't forget to share up to 6 photos from the event for posters to be displayed at the meet.
Service Project Criteria for schools
- Service project must be connected to a local non-profit in the team’s community, which can include schools and churches.
- Community service project focused on but not limited to improving literacy among youth, improving academic achievement.
- It must be a team-oriented project, engaging the majority if not all the team.
- Must provide a report (form will be provided) on the project at the time of sending in the application – date(s) of the project, number or students volunteering, how the project helps the community.
- Provide contact information and letter of endorsement from non-profit the team worked with for the project.
- The non-profit must provide proof of 501-C3 status to receive funds if project is selected as one of the three winners.
Examples of Service Projects include: Book drives, food drives, reading projects with local elementary schools, helping at a local food pantry or soup kitchen.
If you need help finding a non-profit local to you, let us know and we can help connect you to your local United Way.
Thank you again, and if you have any questions, just let us know - 828-327-6851 or email John Bailey at jbailey@ccunitedway.com.
2025 Service Project Winners
1st Place: T.C. Roberson High School
The team partnered with the T.C. Roberson Preschool Program to help with the creation of a new preschool library. They organized a book drive to stock the shelves, read to the preschoolers and had a relay.
2nd Place: Hibriten High School
The team worked on reading skills with students in the exceptional children’s classroom. Through October, members of the team will partner with an individual EC student to read a short story together.
3rd Place Freedom High School
The team tutored and helped support students at Glen Alpine, a feeder elementary school that has some academically high needs students. They worked with kids at all grade levels.