Local Social Justice Stars
Back in September of 2018, we had the pleasure of meeting with a group of young leaders from Immaculata Regional Highschool who were enrolled in a social justice class. This class wasn’t exactly a walk in the park as these dedicated students attended this special class an hour prior to that dreaded start of school morning bell. We were given the opportunity to teach the class about the needs of individuals in our own community and shared with them the work we do in the respective programs, who we serve, and the needs of our participants.
Through this interaction, two students came forward with an outstanding drive and commitment – Jacob Griffin and Piper Barta!
Together the youth organized fundraisers at their school and worked with the Drop-In to come up with innovative ways to support our local youths. After exploring many tasks, risks, and barriers and considering our time – we decided on designing and building a hair salon for youth in the Downtown Youth Centre. The salon is still in the works and renovating is the main goal. In the meantime, Jacob and Piper have since graduated and wished to donate the$422.90 they had raised towards the general needs of the Okanagan Boys and Girls Clubs.
These two have a bright future and we are so grateful to have met them.
“It started when Philippa Putlitz came into my Social Justice class at Immaculata one morning. My team and I were immediately intrigued by the situations involving the youth of Kelowna, and how there was so much we could do locally to help the community get stronger. While other teams in my social justice class chose to help those in third world countries we decided that we should try to help the people in our own community”
-Quote from Jacob Griffin