Celebrating the charitable Morgan Cares Program

Parents, kids and teens alike gathered together at Kent Smith Park in Mountain Green on Sept. 16 for free food, live music and a chance to win many free prizes. The party was aimed at helping those in need and emphasized how important it is to spend time with your family.

Morgan Cares hosted this party to help raise awareness for this great community and to spread care and love to others. The family dinner night was a huge success. “Grace Fellowship Church helped us serve dinner to 500 people in less than 20 minutes,” said Kate Dickman, with Weber Human Services. “They donated chips, cuties and water to complement our Chick-Fil-A sandwiches and cookies. They are so generous and such a great part of our community!”

The Morgan High School jazz band played an assortment of music for the entire event. 

As people danced to the music and ate delicious food, participants got to visit many different booths showcasing the many different programs in the Morgan community. If you visited each booth, your ticket would be entered into the raffle.

At the end of the event, they held the raffle. They gave away many different prizes, such as a river trip for a family worth $400 from destination sports, a family sports night package including: a pickleball net, an SOS gift card, cooler, football and LED frisbee. A family Adventure package including: family adventure book, Polaroid camera, games, puzzle and a gift certificate to Milk Barn Creamery.

Though they had many different prizes, one of the overarching goals of the prizes was to help families spend more time together. This was the main theme of the party, to help families spend more quality time together.

Some of the benefits include, better academic performance, higher self-esteem, lower risk of substance abuse, lower risk of teen pregnancy, lower likelihood of developing eating disorders, bigger cardiovascular health in teens, bigger vocabulary in preschoolers, and healthier eating patterns in young adults.

Some benefits for adults include, better nutrition with fruits and vegetables and less fast food, less dieting and lower risk of depression.

Morgan Cares is a substance abuse prevention program that hopes to stop any problems before they even begin. It’s an extracurricular activity that high school students can join to help around the community.

Morgan Cares meets monthly; giving leadership training opportunities, planning activities and finding ways to support our community. This program is loved by many as it gives them extraordinary opportunities very early in their lives.

Morgan Cares was started in May by Dickman, community members, high school counselors and other key leaders in the community. Weber Human Services has many funding opportunities through a variety of grants that help support healthy communities. “I love working with the youth and thought that [Morgan Cares] was the best place to focus my efforts,” she said.

Morgan Cares has grown exponentially since then, gaining 20 youth and two parent volunteers. Dickman expressed her amazement of the kids by saying, “This group of youth are amazing! They are smart, kind, fun, dedicated and have a desire to leave a meaningful impact on our community.”

As a youth group, they were able to attend a Bryce Canyon youth leadership summit. During their trip to Bryce Canyon, they got to meet with other youth from all around the state who are participating in the same great program. 

Then they got to meet congresswoman Celeste Malloy. “She taught us that we can make a difference not only in our community, but also politically,” Bella Dickman, a member since April 2024 and daughter of Kate Dickman, said. “It was really inspiring to listen to her story and her advice. One thing she taught us is to always be kind to others because your paths will cross again.”

Morgan Cares has also affected the community. The program organized a donation for operation graduation, including an inflatable kayak, waterproof speaker, life jacket and cooler. Then they got to present in front of the county commissioners.

Bella also shared her thoughts on the program. “I love how in Morgan Cares we get opportunities to gain leadership skills, learn how to make an impact on our community and spend time with amazing friends.” λ