‘You Have To Water The Lawn In Order For It To Grow’: LI Nonprofit Gives Three Students Scholarships

EAST ROCKAWAY, NY — The United For Change Foundation held its annual fundraiser this week, conferring thousand-dollar college scholarships to a trio of students from across Nassau County and honoring Michele Cadogan with the organization’s Champion For Change Award.

Founded in 2020 as the “Say Their Names” foundation, the organization became “United For Change” in recent years, in an effort to make clear the connection between the “United For Change” scholarship and the organization awarding it. Despite the name change, Capone said the mission of United For Change is the same as it has been all along: Addressing educational opportunity gaps that exist along racial lines, specifically those faced by Black and African American students.

One of the ways United For Change tries to address those disparities is its scholarships, this year giving money to Oceanside senior Carelvensky “Sky” Samedy, East Rockaway senior Austin Mullins and Valley Stream North senior Sienna Davis. The three will be going on to Nassau Community College, University of Albany and University of Maryland, respectively, in the fall. When asked what set these three apart from their peers, UFC President Tom Capone said it was their understanding of the mission that UFC strives to serve.

“They collectively understood what it means to be a person who recognizes that change — positive change — is important within their communities, and each of them played a vital role in bringing about positive change,” Capone said. “And they have become inspirations to others to try to bring about change within their respective communities, as well…to be able to recognize and celebrate their achievement in such a public way was gratifying for us, but even more so, it was, I think, gratifying for them and the members of their family who were in attendance last night.”

The students were awarded their scholarships after applying via an essay and having letters of recommendation submitted on their behalf, all of which, Capone said, focused on how they had been a force for positive change in their communities. After being selected as scholarship recipients, each of the three will go off to college with a $1,000 windfall that was granted not only because of their applications, but because they put in the work before there was a scholarship on the line.

“They all volunteer in a variety of ways in their communities,” Capone said. “They've demonstrated that they have thought about looking ahead, not just what they're doing today, to bring about change in their communities, but looking ahead, how can I do something through my education? What can I do to contribute to helping to make communities a better place?”

For one student, that dream is to become an architect with a focus on urban planning and housing opportunities. For another, the commitment to change took the form of a children’s book she wrote, meant to help teachers and young students discuss character as part of a broader curriculum. That curriculum, Capone said, is meant to teach students about positive character traits they can exhibit in their day-to-day lives.

As for Cadogan, the volunteer work began when she was a housewife, raising two boys and feeling like she could do something for someone outside the home. At first, she was a volunteer bus monitor in the Malverne School District. In time, she came to serve as the president of the Malverne School Board — the first Black woman to do so on that board — the treasurer of the Lakeview chapter of the NAACP, a member of the Lakeview Library and the vice president of United For Change. In addition to her volunteer efforts, Cadogan also spent 27 years as an administrative assistant in Oceanside schools.

When the time came to receive an award for her efforts, Cadogan said she was as much honored as surprised.

“I’m honored. They certainly caught me off guard. I never thought that my journey would present itself to others in the way that it has. I started working at Oaks School #3 in Oceanside back in 1993, and it didn't take no time to make School 3 and the community of Oceanside my family,” Cadogan said. “To get the respect from the children and their parents and the community means the world to me, because there are a lot more good people that are receptive of each other, of humanity, than we tend to believe, especially during these days and times.”

In all of her roles, Capone said Cadogan has been an inspiration.

“Over and over again, [Cadogan] has demonstrated an ability to be an inspiration to others, to take action, to bring about change," Capone said. "That's her superpower: through her relationships and purely from who she is, she's able to inspire others to see the value and benefit of being agents of change within their communities.”

At Tuesday night’s fundraiser, about 100 people packed into James & Main in East Rockaway to celebrate the three students and the award honoree in what Capone called “a very successful evening.”

That evening, and the funds raised, will allow for UFC to continue operating into its seventh year. In its first six years, United For Change has worked with over 20 districts across Nassau and Suffolk Counties to create opportunities for Black and African American students where economic disparities might have prevented them from existing otherwise, primarily through its scholarships.

While the scholarship awards can go a long way toward making life in college easier for the students who earn them, Capone said the honor of becoming a United For Change scholar is one that goes beyond the financial. The hope, Capone said, is that the recognition of their work so far can spur students to continue serving as agents for positive change in their communities.

“It’s not just the $1,000 that we bestow upon the recipients. It's the recognition of their efforts, and the celebration of what they're achieving, that I really think is that the heart of what we're doing," Capone said. "When kids are identified, recognized, and celebrated for what they've done, I think it strikes a chord within them that says, ‘You know what? What I am doing is meaningful. It is something that people have recognized and understand that there is a value to what I'm doing.' And I think that that helps to encourage them to continue along the path that they began.”

To that point about continuing, Cadogan said the United For Change scholarship program is one that its organizers hope will inspire students to “pay it forward.”

“You have to water the lawn in order for it to grow," Cadogan said. "And it has been our excitement how many students have applied these last six years, and to know that there are high school students who do care for their fellow classmates, their community, who are exceptional in what they hope to obtain as they get older...they need all the help they can get to get where they want to go."