Young Philanthropists: Local Youths Inspire and Impact the Community by Turning Passions into Purpose

As headlines continue to focus on news of an ongoing deadly pandemic, economic challenges, or our divisive political climate, it is not hard to develop a sense of pessimism about the future. But if you’re hungry for some good news and a reason for hope, you need look no further than the youth of Centre County, who have been stepping up during difficult times to help their neighbors.

Here we present just a few examples of those young people who have given back to the community in 2021. Some are individuals who have come up with benevolent projects on their own, and some are organizations that have brought teens together to raise money and awareness for various causes – but all are inspiring examples that prove you’re never too young to make a difference in the world.

‘Ry’s Pup Tugs’

Ryan Marusa

He’s only 11, but Ryan Marusa has already touched the lives of dogs (and their humans) across the United States and beyond.

Currently a sixth-grader at Park Forest Middle School in State College, Ryan started “Ry’s Pup Tugs” in the fall of 2020 as part of a school assignment to create a “passion project.” Because he loves animals, Ryan decided he wanted to make dog toys to donate to Centre County PAWS.

With the help of his parents, Chrissy and Mike, Ryan found a simple no-sew design for a braided fleece dog toy on Pinterest. He quickly got to work, cutting strips of fleece and tying and braiding toys he dubbed “pup tugs.”

After making his initial donation of toys to the PAWS shelter, Ryan had extra pup tugs left over, so he decided to have some fun over the holidays while giving the toys to fellow dog owners.

“We’d all go out in the evenings, and he would put a Santa hat on and he’d deliver them to the front door,” Mike says. “That was a lot of fun.”

“I mainly just wanted to do the PAWS thing, and any excess would go to our dogs and classmates,” Ryan says. “I didn’t know we would get like 200 asks from December through February.”

That unexpected increase in demand came after Ryan was featured on a local TV news segment. The segment was picked up by stations across the country, and soon Chrissy and Mike were surprised to find themselves fielding requests for pup tugs from places like Denver, New Orleans, and California.

“He had given away everything he made locally, and then these requests started coming in like crazy,” Chrissy says. “I think that was the first time that he was a little like, ‘Whoa, what did I sign up for?’ But we got the grandparents involved and got caught up, and now we have a good stockpile.”

Ryan and his brother, Jack, kept track of the locations of his donations on a map, and soon he set a goal to send pup tugs to every state in the nation. He hit that goal in October, and has also shipped toys to Nicaragua, Canada, and Slovakia.

Ryan was chosen to throw out the first pitch at the State College Spikes’ “Bark in the Park” game this summer, and he gave out pup tugs to the dogs in attendance that day. He has also made toys for Centre Wildlife Care, and says that birds, cats, chickens, and raccoons have enjoyed the toys, too.

In his travels with his youth hockey team, Ryan scouts for shelters to donate pup tugs to, and he is rapidly closing in on his next goal: 1,000 pup tugs donated.

Friends, family members, and other organizations – including a gymnastics team from Toledo – have volunteered to help make the toys, and the family has received many donations of fleece, as well as monetary donations to cover shipping costs. Ryan says he currently is not looking for more donations from the community. Instead, he would like help in reaching even more dog owners and shelters, and asks for people to submit requests for toys through the Ry’s Pup Tugs Facebook page.

‘Cakes with a Purpose’

Grace Jones

Grace Jones says she has always felt special on her birthday because of the amazing cakes her mother would bake just for her. The compassionate SCASD senior wanted to make sure that life circumstances did not prevent other teens from experiencing that same kind of feeling on their birthday, so she started a project she calls “Cakes with a Purpose.”

Working directly with the Centre County Youth Service Bureau, Jones bakes and decorates birthday cakes for adolescents ages 13-21 who are staying in CCYSB housing or shelters.

The idea came to her when she saw a TikTok video of a teen who donated Christmas gifts to a youth shelter. At the time, Jones was recovering from knee surgery after an injury that knocked her out of her ice hockey season – a sport she had been playing her whole life.

“It was hard to watch my friends continue to play while I couldn’t,” she says. “So I wanted to use this time to do something good that could make someone else feel special. … I thought about how I love baking so much, and I love decorating cakes, and it’s something I could do with my mom. So I kind of connected the dots and decided to create something that combines my passion for baking with my passion for helping people and just trying to make people happy.”

She initially reached out to Stormbreak Girls Group Home to volunteer her services, and they put her in touch with the CCYSB director of residential services, Vanessa Baronner.

“She thought it was a very unique idea, and she liked that I was aiming it toward older kids,” Jones says.

Jones baked her first cake for the program in March. She now keeps track of residents’ birthdays, preferences, and special interests through a spreadsheet, and has made and delivered 13 birthday cakes (as well as a box of chocolate-covered fruit for someone who didn’t like cake). For those who like fruit filling, Jones says her specialty is raspberry mousse. Her favorite cake that she’s made to date is a rainbow cake for a resident who indicated that she loved rainbows.

For privacy reasons, Jones does not get to meet or interact with the individuals for whom she bakes each cake.

“That’s kind of hard,” she says, “but I hear from them that they appreciate it, and I’m really glad that they like it.”

Jones is not yet sure where she is going to go to college after high school graduation, but, she says, “I am actively working to find someone I can pass this program along to here, or someone I can work with if I do end up staying in State College. I want to find someone just as passionate about this as I am. … It’s a really great program, and I love it, and I don’t want it to stop with me.”

‘Bake with Love’

Madeline Krentzman

Soon after the pandemic hit in the spring of 2020, local school districts and anti-hunger programs worked together to make sure kids – especially those relying on the free and reduced-price lunch programs – would not go hungry due to schools being closed.

Madeline Krentzman, then a high school junior, was driving down Westerly Parkway one day when she saw an extensive line of cars winding through the food distribution site at State College Area High School.

“I was taken aback,” she says. “I really took notice that all of those cars were representing at least one person who needed a meal, but could also represent a family of five. I felt in the moment very appreciative of all I had, but also, I just really got this desire to help my community in any way I could.”

Krentzman, who describes herself as passionate about food insecurity, is also passionate about baking.

“So I decided to make my own cookbook using recipes from friends and family,” she says. “I sent out an email to a huge amount of my friends and family members and I explained to them this idea, and the support I received was overwhelming. I received over 90 recipes and was able to combine them into this big cookbook and then donate them to the YMCA’s anti-hunger programs.”

Krentzman looked to some of her favorite chefs, Giada De Laurentiis and Ina Garten, for inspiration. She also included vignettes with each recipe, inspired by the Humans of New York book by Brandon Stanton.

“I wanted my cookbook to be more than just a cookbook, and to be a vehicle to build a community,” she explains. “With each recipe I included stories and images, so the people who submitted recipes also submitted traditions or a heartfelt memory or the origin of the dish. … So it allowed me to go beyond just the recipe and also dive into the person who submitted it.”

Krentzman worked with KB Offset Printing to design the book, Bake with Love, and have 500 copies printed and bound. From inception to reality, the project took almost exactly one year, with the final cookbooks being delivered in April 2021 – coincidentally, on Krentzman’s birthday. Local establishments such as The Makery and The Cheese Shoppe sold copies of the book, which officially sold out in October.

Krentzman made about $5,800 in proceeds from sales of the book. Coupled with donations from local businesses and individuals, she was able to donate more than $9,000 to the YMCA of Centre County’s anti-hunger program.

“It’s been a long project. … I’m a little sad that it’s over, this chapter of it, just because I’ve poured in so much blood, sweat, and tears,” she says. “It’s been a lovely journey and I’m just so appreciative of everyone who has supported me.”

At this time, Krentzman says there are no plans to do a reprint of the book, but she plans to continue helping the YMCA anti-hunger efforts by fundraising through baking classes as well as volunteering for the organization. She believes her compassion and her drive to help her community comes from her parents.

“I’ve always seen them serve as very active volunteers in our community,” she says. “I think I’ve always really been taught to be grateful for what you have, and help those members of your community who may be less fortunate or may need more support.”

Centre PACT (Philanthropic Actions Created by Teens)

Krentzman also has previous experience working for charitable causes through Centre PACT (Philanthropic Actions Created by Teens), a Centre Foundation fund run by high school students from all the school districts in the county. The students accepted into the Centre PACT program work together to award grants to local causes that affect young people in their peer group.

“At the beginning of the year, we choose a mission statement that as a whole group we’d like to work toward,” explains Emma Neely, Centre PACT coordinator.

The group goes through grant applications to select recipients who they think best fit into their current mission. Throughout the process, the team learns about philanthropy and fundraising.

“Centre PACT allows high school students to get involved in philanthropy and learn how to become a philanthropist,” says Neely, a current Penn State sophomore who took part in the program as a junior and a senior at State College Area High School. “I think it’s a really valuable experience because you learn how to fundraise, you learn how to talk to potential donors, and you learn how to work with your peers on coming up with what you want to get out of the experience. It’s a very self-led experience for high school students, and I think that’s really special.”

Krentzman says, “I’ve been involved in it since my freshman year, and I have really enjoyed it. I’ve really enjoyed getting to know these local nonprofits who do so much for our community and often get less recognition than they deserve.”

In 2021, Centre PACT awarded $4,412 to three local organizations: The Pennsylvania Mental Health Initiative, Tides, and Penns Valley Youth Center.

According to Rachael Hartman, Centre Foundation’s community impact director, “Since 2016, Centre PACT students have granted over $35,000 to 24 local organizations. We are really proud of all the students who have participated throughout the years.”

Neely encourages any high school student with an interest in giving back to the community to apply to the program.

“Even if you’re remotely interested in learning how philanthropy works and being able to give your time to a good cause, being involved in Centre PACT is something you should definitely look into. It’s such a rewarding experience. … No matter what you’re interested in, you’ll get a lot out of it.”

‘When Soccer Becomes Greater’

SCAHS Girls’ Soccer

For several years now, the State High girls’ soccer team has participated in an off-the-field initiative called “When Soccer Becomes Greater.” Each year, the team picks a different cause to support. This year, the athletes chose Good Day Café.

“At the beginning of the season, we kind of started as a team thinking about different things we might want to do. And we have some parents who are involved with Strawberry Fields and Good Day Café, so that was how we came to know about it,” explains senior Claire Vollmer.

The team worked together to raise money by selling silicone “awareness bracelets” at their games, as well as at school and at football games. They also placed donation buckets at various local businesses and secured corporate sponsors. Ultimately, they raised $10,138 for the cause.

Beyond monetary donations, the team wanted to help raise awareness and bring business to the café, which employs adults with disabilities.

“One of the things that caught our attention was the fact that there is an 80-percent unemployment rate for adults with disabilities. Everything through Good Day Café supports jobs. So we wanted to make sure that people were aware of it and create a long-term interest in it,” head coach Todd Roth says.

To that end, the team invited Good Day Café workers to serve as honorary captains at their games, and distributed punch cards to the café to encourage repeat business. The total amount raised was revealed at the team’s final home game. Good Day employees were in attendance, and one of the employees performed the national anthem.

“We could all see them when we raised up the numbers [to reveal the total], and you could see that they were overwhelmed. They all reached out to say thank you. It was really rewarding,” says senior Kate Rowland.

“I was really glad that we ended up choosing [Good Day Café],” says senior Kate Lundy. “We all know people who work there, so it’s fun for us to see it impacting them in a good way.”

Overall, the project ended up benefitting the team nearly as much as the café, according to senior Abby Edelman.

“We have a unique platform as athletes, and there are lots of groups in the community that would love to have help, so we are happy that we can take on something every year. … It’s really special to be able to do more than just play a season. It brings us together as a team outside of just coming to practice every day.”

‘Stick it to Cancer’

SCAHS Field Hockey

Another State High athletic team that raised money for a good cause in 2021 was the field hockey team, through their third annual “Stick it to Cancer” campaign.

Stick it to Cancer started in 2019 as a way to raise money and awareness for the Pennsylvania Breast Cancer Coalition, raising more than $1,400 through a “Pink out the Stands” online store, raffle tickets, and concession sales. In 2020, because of the pandemic, they went to a virtual 5K run format, raising $4,440.

This year, the team opted to raise money for a recent SCASD alum, Sarah Finton, in her fight against acute promyeloctic leukemia (APL), a rare cancer of the bone marrow. They again held a virtual 5K run and raised more than $3,000 for Sarah, a 2019 graduate who now attends Colgate University, studying molecular biology with hopes of becoming an oncologist.

The team ran their 5K together on November 9.

“It means a lot to me knowing that our team and the community around us are willing to give back to something bigger,” says senior Leah Moyer. “I think it is really important as a high school team to give back to someone or something in our community.”

Karen Walker is a freelance writer in State College. This story appears in the December 2021 issue of Town&Gown