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Ethan’s Purpose pledges $5,300 to expand Boone County Hope Squad peer program to middle and high schools
Summary
Ethan’s Purpose founders presented a check for $5,300 to Boone County Schools and pledged funding to support the Hope Squad peer-to-peer suicide-prevention program in all middle and high schools for at least four years.
Debbie Zegara, founder of the nonprofit Ethan’s Purpose, presented a $5,300 commitment during the board meeting and said the group will fund the Hope Squad peer-to-peer suicide-prevention program across Boone County’s middle and high schools for a minimum of four years.
Why it matters: The Hope Squad program trains students to recognize classmates in crisis and routes them to adults or counselors. The nonprofit’s commitment, the presenter said, will expand suicide-prevention training and social-emotional supports across the district’s secondary schools.
Zegara described Ethan’s Purpose as a local nonprofit the board had partnered with to provide counseling, suicide-prevention training and teen mental health programming. She said the $5,300 donation will fund Hope Squad expansion beyond Conner High School to “all the middle schools and high schools in Boone County School System for the next four years at a minimum,” with an intention to continue fundraising to sustain the program.
No formal board vote was recorded for the presentation. Board members and staff recognized the organization and thanked Zegara for the donation.
The presenter said the program includes social-emotional curriculum elements and counseling partnerships with schools; she described the commitment as an initial multi-year pledge rather than a one-time payment.
