Healthy NewsWorks launched our Building a Healthy Future campaign in the fall of 2023 with a bold three-year goal of raising $1 million through individual contributions. We are excited and humbled to announce that, as of June 30, we have surpassed that goal!Â
We are tremendously grateful to everyone who donated or pledged to this effort. Your generosity is making it possible for more children to learn to distinguish facts from misinformation, find trustworthy sources, gain writing skills, and deepen their health knowledge.
Thank you for your vote of confidence in our work in under-resourced elementary and middle schools. Thank you especially to everyone who contributed during June to meet a matching gift challenge from our board of directors, which helped put us over the top.
Over the past three years, we have continued to learn about the impact Healthy NewsWorks is having. Surveys with teachers and students show that our student reporters have become more confident, empathetic, and community-minded.Â
“I felt like I was a part of a community,” wrote a sixth grader. “I loved doing this and had a lot of fun with the research, reflections, writing, interviewing, and putting all the work together.Â
“It really helped me with my social skills. I became less scared and it made me feel more confident in myself.”Â
Since the start of the Building a Healthy Future campaign, the number of students reached by our three programs increased by 57 percent to 2,244 total during the 2025–26 school year. More than 600 students participated this past year in our flagship Core Reporter program (grades 4 to 8), up from 474 three years ago—in 22 schools, including five in Camden. Â
Each year, the student reporters have produced a steady flow of school health newspapers, web articles, videos, By Kids, For Kids magazines, which are shared with their peers, schools, and communities. They have interviewed medical experts and community leaders and facilitated conversations with adults on health-related topics. Â
We’ve also made inroads in our community outreach, delivering 20 family workshops in schools and organizations on such topics as healthy snacking, stress management, and social media.Â
To achieve this growth, we have expanded our staff to include a full-time chief of staff and part-time communications associate, additional teacher, and a manager of new initiatives.Â
The successful Building a Healthy Future campaign has laid the groundwork for us to keep this momentum going, to dive deeper into our partner schools with programming, and to distribute student work even more broadly in our communities.Â
Again, thank you for helping us reach this important milestone.  We look forward to sharing more highlights of our students’ progress as we move forward. Â
—Marian Uhlman, Executive DirectorÂ
