Who Are We?
The Student Ambassadors for Community Health (SACH) is a youth-led organization made up of students in grades 9-12 from Bound Brook and its surrounding area. We target community issues within our town and carry out a project over a six-week period in order to resolve them. Established in the fall of 2017, SACH is a partnership between the Somerset County 4-H Youth Development Program and Middle Earth. The program is intended to harness the energy, knowledge, and idealism of young people ages 14-21 across the state to prepare them as future leaders that address health barriers in their communities.
Coaches mentor them to form leadership skills and identify community health issues, as well as facilitate the team’s work. The team designs and implements projects that address unique health challenges in their community.
Our Partnerships
In the Student Ambassadors for Community Health, we are extremely lucky to have the support of a multitude of programs to help keep us running. SACH is a partnership between Middle Earth and Somerset County 4-H. Both of these programs strive to bring out the leaders of the future by engaging and empowering the youth to reach their fullest potential.
Our program also had the amazing opportunity to be funded by the New Jersey Health Initiatives. The NJHI is a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and is dedicated to building healthier New Jersey Communities. We are greatly appreciative of their generosity to provide us with a 4-year, $200,000 grant funded by them in order to help keep our program alive and growing. The NJHI program encourages collaboration across sectors to foster deep relationships committed to long-term change affording all New Jerseyans the opportunity to live the healthiest life possible. Follow them on Twitter here or on Facebook here.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is the largest private foundation in New Jersey and the nation’s largest philanthropy working to improve the health and health care of all. They are set on building a national Culture of Health that will enable all to live longer, healthier lives now and for generations to come. Follow them on Twitter here or on Facebook here.
In 2020, we were granted another wonderful opportunity to be funded by the Provident Bank Foundation. The Provident Bank Foundation is dedicated to creating awareness and knowledge among the communities they support. Through this grant, we were given a generous $10,000 which has also helped our program thrive and flourish, and for that, we are immensely grateful. Follow them on Twitter here or on Facebook here.
Our Awards
SACH has been dedicated to making a change to communities since its establishment in 2017. Throughout these past few years, we have received a multitude of rewards, which include:
2022 New Jersey winner for the Citizenship in 4-H Youth Development Award - National Association of 4-H Youth Development Professionals
2021 State Winner, Denise Miller Award - National Association of 4-H Youth Development Professionals
2021 Regional Winner, Excellence in Healthy Living Award - National Association of 4-H Youth Development Professionals
2021 Regional Winner, Search for Excellence in Teen Programming Award - National Association of 4-H Youth Development Professionals
2021 National Winner, Excellence in Teamwork Award - National Association of 4-H Youth Development Professionals
2020 National Winner for the Beyond Youth Leadership Award - National Association of 4-H Youth Development Professionals Association (NA4-HYPD).
2020 State Winner for the Excellence in Heathy Living Award - National Association of 4-H Youth Development Professionals Association (NA4-HYPD).
2020 State Winner for the Citizenship in 4-H Youth Development Award - National
Association of 4-H Youth Development Professionals Association (NA4-HYPD).
2020 Safe + Sound Somerset’s SPEAK OUT award
2019 Somerset County Rotary Award
2019 Somerset County Daughters of the American Revolution Patriot award
2019 NJ Complete Streets Safe Routes to School Champion Award from The Complete Streets Summit Advisory Committee
2019 Excellence in 4-H Programming Award - Team from the New Jersey Association of Extension 4-H Agents
2019 State Winner for the Denise Miller Innovator Award – from the National Association of Extension 4-H Agents
2019 State Winner for the Search for Excellence in Teen Programming Award -from the National Association of Extension 4-H Agents
2019 Excellence in the Arts Award from the Somerset County Cultural and Heritage Commission in the category of Arts in the Community
2018 Somerset County Land Development and Planning Award in the Excellence in Planning category
Check out SACH (Student Ambassadors for Community Health) Club. With a focusing on improving the lives and surroundings of local communities, youth work together on large-scale projects to rejuvenate community health, safety, and togetherness.