Kate Prager

Competitive swimmer Kate Prager combined her love of swimming with her passion for giving back by partnering with her local Boys & Girls Club and the West Cabarrus YMCA to offer water safety classes to opportunity youth. “The Boys & Girls Club selected groups of students that they felt would benefit the most from my class,” Kate said. “The YMCA provided the space to teach the lessons and allowed me to use their pool equipment.”

Kate’s swimming classes helped fulfill criteria for her Girl Scout Gold Award, which requires scouts to identify a community need and come up with a plan to address it. Due to the success of her program, the YMCA has referenced it in a grant proposal. “If approved, it could provide funding to the YMCA to provide Safety Around Water lessons to 100 kids in need,” Kate said.  

For Kate, volunteering taught her important lessons about perseverance. “The most important thing I learned was not to give up on my goal,” Kate shared. “I experienced a few hurdles trying to get the project started. While I was frustrated at first, [those hurdles] ended up making me more driven.”

Do you want to make a difference in your community like Kate? Visit All For Good to find local volunteer opportunities.