Celebrating Young Leaders Is Important

When Castle High School students Audrey Watson and Sophie Fanok started Pads for Progress, they weren’t thinking about winning awards or padding their college resume. They simply wanted to help girls in under-resourced areas worldwide who didn’t have access to feminine hygiene products.

Audrey and Sophie’s selflessness and humility is part of the reason they were nominated for and chosen as Youth Resources’ Youth of the Month in 2017.

Since the program’s start in 2015, 22 young people have been recognized as Youth of the Month, thanks to nominations from teachers, mentors and friends. At YR, we are privileged to work with incredible young leaders who are doing amazing things every day, but we’ve been excited to discover, through the Youth of the Month program, the number of students in the wider community who are working hard to serve others.

If you feel like kids today are entitled, selfish, or privileged, I invite you to join us to meet students like Audrey and Sophie at our Hall of Fame celebration on Thursday, April 19. We hope to change your mind about the future of our community and our world through stories of service and selflessness from local students.

We can all recall one adult in our adolescent years who celebrated us for who we are and encouraged us to give to others. You can be that person for a new generation of young people. Join us and see how you can make a difference for a kid!

Reserve your seat for YR’s Hall of Fame at www.youth-resources.org/hall-of-fame or call the YR office at 812-421-0030.

Laura Ferguson is the executive director at Youth Resources of Southwestern Indiana.