National Philanthropy Day

2021 Founders Award winners EAST at Marshall High School took home another trophy this year after winning the “Outstanding Youth Group” award at the AFP Arkansas National Philanthropy Day awards ceremony.

Junior Meagan Roberts and alumni Emily England, two of the leading students in the program, represented the school in the

November edition of the Inviting Arkansas magazine. They shared how EAST at Marshall High School made huge impacts in their community through several projects in the past year.

“Every time we worked on something, the word would spread, and more and more community members would come in and see us to see if we could help with their own projects,” Emily said. “Our town is definitely not tech-orientated, as it’s a small farm town, so to see the community grow with the help of our tech was quite amazing.”

EAST at Marshall High School assisted many community partners across the area. They developed marketing tools for the Searcy

County Senior Activity and Wellness Center and created activites that helped keep its participants mentally sharp. They also promoted local restaurants through their own “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” styled series.

“We started a YouTube vlog called ‘Neighborhood Delicacies’ and got out there and promoted all these local businesses,” Meagan said.

“We did one at the Fresh Cut Diner and people who saw the video from out of state came in from hours away just to eat.”

Meagan accepted the “Outstanding Youth Group” award on behalf of EAST at Marshall High School, and while Emily was not able to attend the award ceremony, she was still ecstatic to be a part of such an honor.

“I felt absolute joy,” Emily said. “It was really cool hearing about the nomination because I had already graduated at that point, and it really made me realize that my work is still going to continue to help others - and that the legacy I left at my school is always going to be there.”