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Background The Millcreek Youth Council was established in September of 2018. The goal of the Millcreek Youth Council is to teach Millcreek youth about municipal government and provide opportunities for community service in both formal and social settings. The council is comprised of 25 members and includes youth, grades 9-12, from Skyline, Olympus, and Cottonwood Heights high schools. In three short years, the Millcreek Youth Council has established itself as a well-recognized asset to the Millcreek community. This group of remarkable people inform the Mayor and City Council of the needs and wishes of the youth in Millcreek. In addition, the Council assists with a variety of events and activities such as Venture Out, Canyon Rim Day of Service, Local Officials Day at the Legislature, and much more. In three short years, the Millcreek Youth Council has established itself as a well-recognized asset to the Millcreek community. This group of remarkable people inform the Mayor and City Council of the needs and wishes of the youth in Millcreek. In addition, the Council assists with a variety of events and activities such as Venture Out, Canyon Rim Day of Service, Local Officials Day at the Legislature, and much more. Achievement The Millcreek Youth Council has demonstrated excellence by consistently giving back to the community with enthusiasm and professionalism. The 25-member council shows up in force to all city events. The council has been crucial to the success of Millcreek’s Venture Out summer festival series—spending several hours each Friday of the summer months ensuring the smooth operations of the festival and interacting with Millcreek residents of all ages in a friendly and engaging manner. No two activities have been the same over the years—the council has helped with everything from drive-in movies, to rolling car shows, to food truck rallies. Perhaps more remarkable than their unwavering ability to answer the call to service is their commitment to paving their own path and channeling their ingenuity toward organizing activities and programs that they know will have the most positive impact on the community. Each month, the council focuses on a certain demographic or organization to serve and molds a unique activity to fit the needs of the selected demographic/organization. In the fall of 2019, the council decided to throw a Halloween dance for the students for the Jean Massieu School of the Deaf and Blind located in Millcreek. They spent two months planning the logistics of the dance, being extra sensitive to the specific needs that would need to be met. The council even spent two of their meeting periods learning basic phrases in American Sign Language so they could interact with their deaf peers. The first of its kind Halloween dance was an incredible success, and school administrators asked the Youth Council if they would consider making the Halloween dance a reoccurring event at the school. Though the COVID pandemic put a damper on such plans in 2020, the Youth Council plans to continue this tradition and strengthen ties with their peers at the Jean Massieu School. Millcreek has a large immigrant and refugee population, and the needs of that community did not escape the attention of the Youth Council. One Saturday morning, a member of the Youth Council attended the Sunnyvale Farmer’s Market with her mother and noticed several refugee children running around the park unattended while their parents shopped in the market or ran a booth of their own. She brought her observation to the council and they unanimously decided to host Sunnyvale Field Days every Saturday from 11 AM to 2 PM where they would provide frisbees, water blasters, arts & crafts, face painting and more—watching over and entertaining the children while the parents conducted their business at the market. The Sunnyvale Field Days were a success, with more and more children showing up every Saturday to take part in the fun and several parents expressing their relief and gratitude toward the Youth Council. Not to be hindered by COVID regulations, the Youth Council still found ways to serve in the midst of the pandemic. Hearing of the desperate situation faced by the Navajo Nation and the deadly toll COVID-19 was taking on its people, the Youth Council partnered with Café Zupas to raise funds for the Navajo Nation COVID-19 Relief Fund. In the course of one night, the raised $200 for the Navajo Nation. Currently, the Youth Council are in the middle of one of their most ambitious projects to date. COVID regulations prevented the council from hosting many of their usual activities and service projects in 2020, but it did not slow their determination and desire to serve. The council decided to end their 2020-2021 term with a bang and decided to thank our hardworking educators by putting together “thank you” gifts for every teacher, administrator, and staff member in all three local high schools—Skyline, Olympus, and Cottonwood. They have partnered with the Millcreek Business Council to supply gift cards in every basket and have already gathered 142 gift cards from local Millcreek businesses. They have also partnered with the Holladay Youth Council in order to gather gift cards from Holladay businesses and welcomed their help to assemble all 443 required gift bags. ---PAGE BREAK--- Though the Youth Council has not received any physical awards per se, their influence does not go unnoticed. The Millcreek City Council has publicly thanked the Youth Council numerous times on official record for their many acts of service for the community and have asked for their input on matters such as the Millcreek City Center project and look to them as the voice of the city’s youth. Graduated and current members alike have earned a combined thousands of dollars in scholarships to acclaimed universities across the nation (as well as the world with one graduated member having earned a prestigious scholarship to the London School of Economics and Political Science). One current member of the council was just recently announced to be one of two Utah seniors to be representing Utah during the 59th annual United States Senate Youth Program. Innovation One thing that this group of young minds does not lack is innovation. Like many, COVID restrictions forced many to think outside the box, and the Youth Council was no exception. Trying to find ways that a group of 25 could still meet safely as well as find service opportunities that they could do as entire group was difficult, but they were up to the challenge. At the beginning of the pandemic, the Youth Council effortlessly transitioned fully to online meetings, not missing a beat along the way. Not wanting to miss out on valuable friendships being formed, they focused on making sure that activities and service projects could be held outside where the group could be physically distanced and masked. During the Venture Out festival in the summer, the goal of the Youth Council was to make sure that community members could gather safely while still enjoying events. One such event was a weekly Food Truck Rally that ran every Thursday night in the Millcreek City Hall parking lot. Members of the Youth Council showed up diligently every Thursday night for two months and marked 6-foot spacing lines on the pavement with sidewalk chalk marking where attendees could safely stand in line for their food truck of choice. Each member of the council added their own creative flair and drew pictures and encouraging messages at each line, giving the attendees something to smile about while waiting in line. As summer was winding down, the Youth Council learned about the Utah Food Bank’s Food Box Decorating program. These specific boxes would be filled with food and delivered to senior citizens. The Youth Council saw this as a fun and simple way to put a smile on the faces of seniors. For two Saturdays in the summer, the Youth Council went to a local park and sat distanced on the grass while they decorated boxes and got to enjoy one another’s company. Quality The Youth Council embody the spirit of service in everything they do. In October of 2020, the council decided to spend every Saturday morning in October cleaning up various Millcreek parks. They would spend two hours in the morning making sure that every inch of the park was cleaned. The results of their efforts were extraordinary—at the conclusion of the month they had picked up nearly 100 pounds of trash! Millcreek residents enjoying their time in the park took notice and thanked the youth council for their efforts, with some residents even offering to join and help. One of the primary aspects of the youth council is civic engagement. In July of 2020, the Youth Council attended a street renaming held by the city of Millcreek to honor one of the first Black pioneer families to settle in Millcreek. The council approached one of the attendees, Jeanetta Williams of the NAACP National Board of Directors to find out what the council could do to advance the cause of the NAACP in Millcreek. This was around the height of civil unrest between police and the black community, so Jeanetta asked the youth council to deliver pocket-sized brochures with tips on Interacting with Police at the city’s Venture Out events. The council also distributed the NAACP’s Get Out the Vote door hangers and encouraged people to register to vote through the Youth Council’s Instagram page. Jeanetta was so impressed with their enthusiasm that she awarded each member with a 1-year honorary membership to the NAACP. At the beginning of the pandemic when masks shortages were high, the council took it upon themselves to sew masks and donate them to the International Rescue Committee in Salt Lake City. Not able to find elastic, the council used large hair ties for the earpieces. The Youth Council was able to sew a total of 75 masks for adults and children in Millcreek that are helped by the IRC.