“JKL has changed my life over the past 4 years because I have been stressing and having problems with school, but every day when we have a JKL meeting, it has helped me to stop, reflect and relax, if only for a second to forget about my problems and help others. I am not as stressed and I don’t have problems that stress me out as much. Mental Health Monday’s are great and have contributed to keeping my mental health in check. JKL is the Best!”

“I am a Junior at East Laurens HS. I am a spirit sideline cheerleader and a member of just keep livin, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and Beta Club. Since joining JKL, I have not been eating as much junk food. My mother and I have continued to eat at home making healthy meals instead of eating out. I knew my friend Avery, prior to JKL. However, JKL brought out some experiences we both faced and were able to help each other deal with those issues. We both have very busy days, but our friendship continues. I have met new people in JKL, but some I already knew, but knowing them through JKL helped me have a greater bond with them outside of JKL. My favorite part of JKL is the community service. When we collected items for the WINGS shelter or Ronald McDonald House it is good for my soul to know that I am helping others- even if the people don’t know who bought the item or where it came from.”

JKL has gifted me with a new experience on life and different cultures. It has taught me things I have never imagined learning from archery, canoeing, and even boxing. Every adventure was a great experience. just keep livin also gave me a school family who I have grown to love and depend on. I couldn’t be happier with the people I have grown to love and care for. I have been in JKL since my freshmen year and I am now in my senior year. Every year I learn more stuff about not only myself, but others as well. I feel as though JKL has given me a bigger heart and helped me spread my wings and conquer things I couldn’t have done on my own. If you had to ask me what a home is, some people say it’s a place you can depend on and a place where you are respected. JKL isn’t a place, it’s people I depend on and respect. It’s people I love and who love me. They are my family – if I need to cry, I cry with them, if I need to laugh, I laugh with them, if I need to yell they let me to let it out. What better people to spend four years with other than them? My experience in JKL has been anything but boring. The people I had these experiences with have been my happiness for the past four years. I would like to thank JKL. It gave me one more thing to be grateful for.

The just keep livin program has been the one of the most amazing programs I have joined thus far. I have broadened my knowledge in nutrition, learning both good nutritional habits for not only the body but the mind as well. I have changed some of my eating habits and no longer eat foods that contain artificial trans fats which are found in a lot of packaged foods. I learned this during one of our sessions making smoothies. The just keep livin program has also helped me advance with myself mentally. I have discovered better coping methods with my anxiety and depression. I use my just keep living notebook to write down some of my short-term goals, my poetry, plan my daily schedules and events. I have also found that simple things such as biking make me happy. The breeze, the push to keep pedaling, and the calmness it creates through my body makes me feel wholesome. I have been slowly finding different ways to stay calm and not overthink. I am very happy to have been granted this grand opportunity to be a part of the just keep living program! Thank you!

JKL filled a critical need fostering essential wellbeing skills that have systemically been denied to low-income communities. When there were no counselors, there were journals. When there was no one at home because our parents were working, we learned to identify healthy snacks just from reading the label. When there were no parks or funding for team sports, our JKL teachers ran around the block with us. When we all felt the need to escape our community, we were reminded to give back. What makes JKL so unique is how all students are welcomed. You don’t need to be a star student to join, you are not your GPA, you are not your trauma, you are not your insecurities, or your home life. JKL gives you the chance to just be you. A very memorable experience was sitting in a just keep livin ‘Gratitude Circle’ for the first time. I had never really been asked to reflect, much less publicly share, what I was thankful for. The term ‘mental health’ did not exist in my vocabulary. As I became more used to Gratitude Circles, I began to like how I felt when I had time to think in a quiet space, when I had time to reflect and be heard. This introduction to wellness influenced how I saw emotions and my own mind. Thanks to JKL, gentleness and self-awareness became strengths and not weaknesses.

Knowing that I was no match for my father was one of the reasons I decided to join JKL. JKL provided me with a network of support to help overcome all of this, as well as the resources to live a healthier lifestyle and maintain a positive mental attitude. JKL became my safe haven and more than just a place to hang out after school. Failing was one of my biggest fears, and JKL helped me overcome that. just keep livin helped shape me into the person I am today.

just keep livin has given me a platform where I am able to grow as a person. Thanks to JKL I was able to break out of my shell and apply myself not only at school but in my community. Thanks to this program I understood the true meaning of gratitude. Thanks to JKL I have made the absolute best effort to give back and appreciate everything in my life. just keep Livin gave me hope that everything will be okay in my life because I have a support system.

After being in this program, there are many changes with how I perceive myself and others. JKL has allowed me to build my self-esteem, become more open minded to try new things and avoid having a fixed mindset JKL makes me want to travel and collaborate with people with different cultures and backgrounds and make healthier decisions. I am so grateful for the JKL program and the opportunity to experience things I never would have had the chance otherwise.

“I thank JKL for helping me get out of my shell, as when I first started the program I felt uncomfortable now it feels like a family. It keeps me out of trouble outside of school because I have something to do before I go home and do homework instead of having all that time just to goof around, keeps me concentrated.

Through the JKL program, I met a group of leaders who have become my support system. just keep livin is a place where bonds can be established and as the years go by, the fact that gratitude has played such a big part in our lives, has shaped us into the people we will become