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Home > Initiatives > Awards Programs > Newman Civic Fellows Award 2013 > The 2012 Newman Civic Fellows > Kesha Beethe, Peru State College

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Kesha Beethe, Peru State College

Kesha Beethe, a junior sport management and exercise science major at Peru State, has focused on youth obesity in rural Nebraska. Kesha helped design the program for the college’s Children’s Health, Activity & Nutrition Community Engagement (CHANCE) Initiative, a partnership with the local elementary school focused on improving children’s health through nutrition and exercise. Kesha is looking beyond the ‘grass-roots’ involvement of volunteerism by examining the policies that influence nutrition and activity in rural areas. Kesha plans to remain in rural Nebraska to work with local governance for policy reform.

I have always had a drive to serve others and work for the common good. But I never fully realized that I could go beyond volunteerism--that my opinion and hard work could influence policy decisions. My views changed when I sat in the office of one of my legislators in Washington, DC."

-Amanda Coffin, University of Maine at Farmington, Campus Compact student leader