Two local students are in the Junior Achievement 18 Under Eighteen class of 2024. Kirsten Close and Liam Welge will be recognized on Feb. 6 at Acrisure Stadium.
Kirsten Close is a 17-year-old trailblazer and founder of MePower United, a nonprofit dedicated to addressing menstrual poverty in underdeveloped nations overseas.
Her mission to eliminate menstrual poverty was sparked in 2020 by a news segment detailing the struggles woman in El Salvador face to secure proper menstrual hygiene supplies. After completing more research, she founded MePower United intending to empower Salvadoran women to take ownership of their periods and financial situations.
After raising more than $4,000 in reusable menstrual supplies and teaming up with a women’s shelter in El Salvador, Close traveled abroad to implement her plan. She met with more than 50 trafficked and homeless women and demonstrated how to not only make and use the reusable pads, but also how to sell them to other women to escape their own financial poverty. Since implementation, more than 500 reusable pads have been distributed throughout the El Salvador community and seven women in severe poverty are actively sewing and distributing pads as a means of employment.
Close is also an active advocate for menstrual poverty in America. She’s recruited her fellow students to serve in MePower leadership positions and help with fundraising and program development. She also actively contacts government leaders to advocate for free menstrual products in American homeless shelters, jails and schools.
In her free time, Close enjoys playing tennis — she’s played in multiple state finals and now serves as team captain.
Liam Welge is a 17-year-old student who exemplifies leadership and innovation.
An active Boy Scout, Welge’s Eagle Scout Project revitalized Simmon’s Woods, an untouched Allegheny Land Trust Property, and made the site suitable for recreation and enjoyment. It took more than 300 hours for him to organize community volunteers, remove overgrowth and invasive species, pick up litter, and build bridges to create the trail for his community. Today, many people in his town use the trail for running, dog walking and bike riding.
In addition to Scouting, Welge also owns his own business, Liam’s Great Eggs, where he raises chickens, sells their eggs and uses his profits to give back to his community. For each carton of eggs sold, Liam donates $1 to a community organization of choice. He’s also an active volunteer with Mr. Rogers’ Sweater Drive — where he’s collected and donated more than 1,600 sweaters — the Pittsburgh Food Bank, Center for Hope, and Peace Corp in Swaziland.
Welge aspires to become a professional pilot and spends his free time chasing that goal. He’s the first student at Quaker Valley to enroll in the Community College of Beaver County Aviation Program and enjoys volunteering and learning at Waynesburg Airport.