Before Covid-19, STEMBoost was a locally organized student group who were excited by science, technology, engineering, and math. They organized in-person workshops to spread interest in the STEM fields, hoping to inspire young talent.
When Covid-19 emerged in the community, STEMBoost re-organized their workshops to online platforms (like many of us had to). They continued to raise funds through these workshops but this time, they decided to donate those funds to Covid-19 relief efforts.
One of their co-founders is 17 year-old David Smith. In May, David contacted us and said that STEMBoost had raised $4,000 and they wanted to donate it to the VMC Foundation.
Then in October, David called us again. They raised another $6,000 from summer workshops that registered students from all over — even internationally! They made another gift.
When we talked with David, he put it simply. Covid-19 has been a disruptive event—and for young people, it has been THE event of their lives. They’ve seen the chaos of scrambled school activity, remote learning, and how this has affected student learning. They wanted to throw their efforts behind the fight against this deadly disease.
David says “I am happy we did our part in this global pandemic to support our local hospitals. This effort has been in honor of students in our community who have been highly impacted by the effects of covid disrupting their education. I thank all students who attended our workshops and everyone who helped us raise these funds.”
STEMBoost has shown us how deeply affected all lives are by the pandemic. These students have also shown us the power of young people to care for each other and their community by supporting efforts to fight Covid-19. We’re so thankful for the inspired actions they took. And we know that they will make huge impacts on their community in the years ahead!
