Youth philanthropy has been a signature part of the Dorchester Youth Council (DYC). Each year, the youth council funds individual youth and youth programs who want to make a difference in the Dorchester community through service learning projects.  Council members are truly committed to funding projects initiated by youth and executed by youth with community service learning at its core.  

On March 20, the Council held its 4th Annual Mini Grant Ceremony, hosted by the Boston Globe Foundation, in honor of youth taking an active role toward improving their communities.  This year’s mini-grant recipients are: The Food Project (Build-a-Garden), The ATLAS program (Bully Stoppers), Close to Home (Acting Out Against Teen Violence Dating), The Teen Center (Teen Magazine and Pool Mural Project), and the Grover Cleveland Middle School Leadership Council (Peace Week).

Council presented a community recognition award to Louis D. Brown Peace Institute at the ceremony for their service project funded two years ago.  The Peace Squad youth organized a marketing campaign to send a visible message of peace by distributing 5,000 Peace Boston buttons, purple ribbons and “Start Peace” t-shirts in the community.  The project also helped increase youth involvement and participation in the Mother’s Walk for Peace with billboards featuring Peace Squad leaders. 

Clementina Chery, Peace Institute President and Founder, shared some thoughts on the impact of the mini-grant, “This campaign taught our peers and other students the importance of leadership and the importance of working together. We all learned that there are more of our peers doing the right things in the community.  Watching the moms (of the victims and the offenders) working side by side gave us the energy to exceed our original goal of 5,000 Peace Boston buttons.”

Over the past four years, the Council members have disseminated over $35,000 in the community to fund youth-initiated projects to make a difference. It has acted as a next step to help the youth of today be agents of active change in specific areas of concern to them like violence, domestic abuse and how media affects the lives of minority youth.  Through this philanthropic initiative, it has increased a greater awareness and a growing desire for youth engagement in the Dorchester community.

The Dorchester Youth Council is a youth engagement leadership program that serves youth between the ages of 12 and 17, who work together to better the Dorchester community through community service learning practices.  The Dorchester Youth Council is coordinated through a partnership between Social Capital Inc. (SCI) and DotWell.  The Boston Globe Foundation, Lenny Zakim Fund, Massachusetts Service Alliance, Boston Scientific and Sovereign Bank provide major funding.  

For more information about the event or the Dorchester Youth Council, please contact Grace Ejiwale, Youth Program Coordinator at Gejiwale@scidorchester.org or (617) 822 8297. Make sure you check out www.mydorchester.org to find out the Dorchester Youth Council’s upcoming events