Lynn teams land community service grants

LYNN – Three youth teams from Girls Incorporated and Gregg Neighborhood House were selected by United Way’s Youth Venture Program, which provides them with a grant to start social projects that create positive, lasting change in their communities.Last December, Young St*rs 4 the Future and Second Helpings of Girls Inc. and Open Hands of Gregg Neighborhood House presented their projects, which were created to help better their communities, to a panel of judges in order to be eligible for the grant.”They’re ecstatic,” said Open Hands mentor Michelle Brown. “They are a little nervous presenting. They did phenomenal as the panel told them and they were surprisingly happy. Ever since then they’ve come back and they’re working on realistic projects to get them started.”Patricia Driscoll, executive director of Girls Inc., said the students had to go through the application process and design the programs themselves, though they did have a little help.”It was exciting,” she said. “It really was a youth driven process. They had to come up with their ideas on their own. They do have staff that advise them, but it really is their project. They had to reach a consensus and then move forward.”The 12 total winning groups each receive a United Way Youth Venture grant of up to $1,000 for their civic venture and $500 more to help cover the costs of supervision. Young professionals within United Way’s Emerging Leaders program serve as Venture Advisors – volunteers who provide ongoing support, guidance and mentorship to the teens throughout the course of the project. The teams gave an update of their projects at an Emerging Leader Gala event at the Boston Children’s Museum on May 15.The Open Hands project has joined Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy, the city of Lynn and the Department of Public Works to work towards beautification, money management, education and social enrichment throughout the city. The group started on beautification and assisted in the clean up of Lynn Woods. They also contacted the DPW to ask for permission to paint the city’s trash barrels.”They have gotten the OK to create beautiful designs on the trash barrels, which is the next thing they are going to be working on and then rolling them out into the community,” Brown said. “They thought if the trash barrels look beautiful, it is an incentive for citizens to make sure their trash ends up in the barrel. The next thing they’re working on is to organize their own beautification project some time in June and they’re looking for any help from the community to participate.”Brown mentioned the group will be giving updates to Kennedy, who pledged to help them by advertising their events and to “physically participate because she is that kind of person,” Brown said.The Second Helpings program, created by middle school students at Girls Inc., is partaking in volunteer work and is diligently working to raise money for charitable organizations and awareness, one bake sale at a time. Driscoll said the girls had to come up with a budget and buy the supplies and equipment, like mixers, and they have been planning, baking, pricing, selling out and donating the money they earn.Young St*rs 4 the Future have taken an interest in putting a stop to the violence amongst kids and throughout their community.”Young women in the 9th and 10th grade decided that they wanted to do something about violence,” Driscoll said. “They are doing some research and coming up with workshops that they can present to younger kids. They went to the Boys and Girls Club and did workshops there about how to deal with conflict. They are hoping to go to other places where there are children to do their presentation.”Driscoll said the program runs through December and the group has neared the end of the planning process, which she said “isn’t really pretty,” and may have been frustrating for a group of “young women who, in our society, want instant gratification.””Now they’re on a roll,” Driscoll said. “It is great to see