November 14, 2008

By Rick Winterson

Would you like to see what a hundred young people can achieve?  Then come to Community Day this Saturday, the 15th, at the Ironworkers Hall.  Would you like to hear words of wisdom from Steve Sweeney?  Enjoy free refreshments?  Hear about Youth Assets?  Be entertained by talented young people?  All the more reasons to come to Community Day.

Community Day is an annual event arranged and organized by the Youth Ambassadors, who are members of Young at Arts Program sponsored by the Community Health Center.  The Fifth Annual Community Day is approaching rapidly – Saturday, November 15, from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m.  The location:  the Ironworkers Hall on Old Colony Avenue (free parking). 

Community Day includes workshops, exhibit tables set up by South Boston’s non-profits, and a number of interesting discussions, activities, and entertainment.  You can share in a continental breakfast and a sandwich buffet at lunchtime.  Most of all, you will get to see what the youth groups in South Boston accomplish, day in and day out.  You will be pleasantly surprised at all they get done.

The cost is as reasonable as it gets – Community Day is completely free and open to the public.  This has been made possible with funding from The Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, Partners Health Care, EXELON, Mt. Washington Bank, and a South Boston Community development grant.

The Health Center’s Youth Ambassadors from the Young at Arts Program are hosting Community Day.  As of this writing, the Boys & Girls Club Keystone Club, the Teen Ambassadors from the Neighborhood House, the Youth Assets Youth Council, and the Old Colony Teen Task Force are taking part in Community Day.  Cooperating community groups include the South Boston Association of Non-Profits (SBANP) and the South Boston Arts Association.

Here’s the approximate schedule for the 2008 Community Day #5:  stop in at 10 a.m. for juice, coffee, and pastries.  Steve Sweeney will arrive around 10:30 to deliver his remarks.  Then, there’ll be workshops in drawing and bookbinding, and a presentation of the “Youth Assets” concept by the S.E.A.R.C.H. Institute and the South Boston Youth Assets Task Force.  After you eat lunch at 11:30 or so, walk around and stop by the tables that the South Boston Association of Non-Profits (SBANP) will have set up. 

After lunch, the young people will entertain you.  There’ll be dancing, singing, poetry, and ensemble numbers.  The emcees will be that great comedy team of Moss and Theresa.  The teens will conduct a special ceremony at 2:30 to close out the Fifth Annual Community Day.

That’s not all.  While you’re at the Ironworkers Hall, listen for the winners of the Young at Arts Calendar Contest.  The Youth Ambassadors are going to conduct a bake sale to help finance their next trip to the Gulf Coast to help out with the recovery from Hurricane Katrina (yes, that’s still going on).

Here’s an interesting concept.  Community Day has come up with funding for “mini-grants” that will team adults with teenagers on community projects.  Submit a grant proposal for a sum up to $500, then use it to “Make South Boston Healthier, Stronger, Better” or to answer the question, “How Can I Improve My Community?”  You can participate in getting and using such grants, while learning a lot about community action in the process.

Come to Community Day this Saturday because (best of all) you will see your kids shine.  And please remember – Community Day #5 (parking, refreshments and all) is free.