The Youth Leadership Highlands of the Mason G. Smoak Foundation’s annual Grocery Cart Race was a fantastic experience. We were given instructions to go to local businesses around our county and tell them about our program and what we do and also ask them for donations. These donations went to gathering food for members of our community through the Heartland Food Bank. Going to all of these different businesses made our YLH class go out of our comfort zones and talk to adult

Waking up at 4:45 to drive an hour to be with my best friends is something I’ll never forget. I was tired and grumpy - no doubt. But when I walked into Publix, saw the faces of my friends and the jokes began to flow around me, I woke up and began to enjoy the fun. My team was 3rd to race for groceries for the Heartland Food Bank. I was so confused and luckily Josh pointed us in the right direction, got us through the store and to the finish line. Boy, was that a long 3 m

The grocery race was a great experience because it taught us how to work together as a team to get things done. It was great seeing everyone else outside of the YLH show up to complete in the grocery race also. It was great that everything we got in the grocery race went to a good cause to help out others in need. I really enjoyed the grocery race even though we had to get up very early to get there. It meant a lot and it was very fun!

This Sunday, myself and the other YLH members had the opportunity to participate in a grocery race.Prior to the race, we all had to find sponsors to donate. With the money now collected, we teamed up and raced to gather groceries that would be donated to the food bank. It was a high adrenaline rush to gather as many of the groceries on the wish list as possible and was a lot of fun to be apart of. What makes it even better is that the food gathered will be going to people who

The government and education day was a lot of fun! We started the day off at the courthouse, listening to various speakers who had a lot of knowledge to share. Gaining their input was a great experience that opened up my mind to the law careers available near me. After that, we went to the Highlands County jail, where we received a lot of input about the inter-workings of a jail. We also were honored to spend time with the canine department and see some cool demonstrations. L

Government day really stood out to me out of all of our outings. Over the course of this day, I saw our county’s government at a perspective many people don’t get the chance to. We started our day at the courthouse where we met very influential and important people in our county. For example, we had the honor to meet our county sheriff, our Clerk of Courts, the SWAT team, the CSI unit, and even one of our Judges. Being able to talk to them and listen to the things they do in

Government and Education day definitely gave us all a reason first hand to stay out of trouble. We started the day off at the Sebring Chamber of Commerce and then traveled to the Highlands County Courthouse. At the courthouse we were greeted by Captain John Barcinas. Although, getting into the courthouse was not as easy as just walking through the front doors. We were all walked through metal detectors and then crowded into a hallway before entering the courtroom. Once in the