Pillsbury United Communities leads participation of more than 1,000 youth throughout Minneapolis in the 19th Annual National & Global Youth Service Day!
Coordinated nation-wide by Youth Service America, N&GYSD; is the largest service event in the world – millions of youth across the globe participated in this event on April 20-22! For the second year in a row, Pillsbury United Communities was selected as one of only fifty organizations nationwide to serve as a lead agency for National & Global Youth Service Day (N&GYSD;) in Minneapolis.
What makes this event especially unique to our city is that the youth involved are primarily young people living in poverty that are not traditionally called upon to serve or volunteer.
Highlights from this year’s event:
Youth Empowerment Hip-Hip Show:
- 20 youth from all four PUC Youth Programs (Youth Empowerment Council) received a YouthRising grant from the National Office of Juvenille Justice and Delinquency Prevention to organize the “Youth Empowerment Hip-Hop Show”
- 26 different groups of youth performers from all across the city audtioned for the show
- 7 groups were selected by the Youth Empowerment Council and they also chose National recording hip-hop artist “Maria Isa” to headline
- Over 200 people attended the show at the Capri Theater on April 21
- $340 was raised through ticket sales and concessions to benefit three youth development organizations chosen by the Council in Tanzania, Brazil and Thailand
- After hearing the accomplishments of the Youth Empowerment Council, they were invited to speak with Mayor RT Rybak on June 6 at City Hall to talk about the efforts of urban youth who are working for social change in their Minneapolis communities
Supporting the Troops:
- Pillsbury House Teens wrote letters to soldiers in Iraq. The teens paired up with children from the after school program and helped with letter writing.
- The After School Program and FANS kids participated in an Item Drive for soldiers in Iraq (Boxes decorated and placed throughout the city)
- Youth also invited speakers to participate in a War Panel. Participating organizations included Military Families Speak Out, Veterans for Peace, and W.A.M.M. (Women Against Military Madness)
- Students decided to make this a year round project more than 20 shoe boxes were filled with items and more items are still coming in.
Northside Leadership Initiatives:
- 2 separate groups of north mpls youth planned their service-learning project together for the first time this year
- 4 of these youth helped write a grant for the National Crime Prevention Council
- 30 youth total received the grant to help fund our “Northside Leadership Lock-in”
- 45 youth total attended the “Northside Leadership Lock-in on April 14th
- 3 youth-identified guest speakers came to support their project that night addressing issues around leadership, getting youth out of poverty, and safety in the community
- 10 youth conducted a presentation of their project to two PUC Board Members and two center directors at OP April 21st
Neighborhood Re-Growth: Help Clean & Plant a Seed!
- 4 youth and volunteers participated in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood clean up
- 12 youth volunteered at the Mississippi River Clean Up
- 10 youth participated in a skit on terrorism
- 45 youth and volunteers planted seeds to be placed in the Augsburg Community Garden
- 33 youth attended the Saturday Celebration.
Service learning has been an integral part of Pillsbury United Communities Youth Programming for decades, which is the primary reason we were selected as a Lead Agency to spearhead this national effort in 2007. From a very early age, youth who participate in PUC programming learn about civic responsibility and volunteerism, and are offered many diverse opportunities to showcase their energy, talent and altruism under the guidance of adult staff and mentors. Please visit www.ysa.org for more information about National & Global Youth Service Day.
