Riedel Foundation Awards $7,500 to CHART Teen Task Force

  The CHART Teen Task Force is the latest Hannibal non-profit organization to receive a grant from the Riedel Foundation. CHART will use the $7,500 Riedel grant to put on a Teen Health Fair and to fund sexuality education in the Hannibal school district.

CHART has hosted 27 Teen Health Fairs over the years. Last year’s fair, also sponsored by the Riedel Foundation, drew a crowd of 620 people. The fair provides information primarily on health topics that relate to teenagers, but it’s presented in a party-style atmosphere with a DJ, free food, and giveaways.

“We started the CHART Teen Task Force in 1995, with the intention of decreasing unintended teen births and sexually transmitted diseases in teenagers,” said CHART Chairperson Dr. Sandra Ahlum. “No one seemed to be addressing the issue at that time. Since then, births to teens in northeast Missouri decreased 76% from our start in 1995 until the latest figures available in 2022.”

The Riedel Foundation has been a long-time supporter of CHART.

“We award a lot of grants every year,” said Riedel Foundation Lead Trustee Dr. Michael Bukstein. “Rarely do we see firm evidence of the difference our grants make in the community. We are impressed by the reduction in teen births as a result CHART’s work, and that’s why we continue to support the program.”

In addition to the Teen Health Fair, CHART provides sexuality education at Hannibal High School and Hannibal Middle School. It provides infant and pregnancy simulators at the Hannibal Career and Technical Center and at the middle school. It also offers puberty education at Hannibal grade schools.

The 2025 Health Fair will take place February 1 at the Admiral Coontz Recreation Center.

 

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