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#WhyWednesday #1

by | Nov 13, 2014 | Service Adventures

#WhyWednesday

The end of the year is around the corner, and you’ll see #GivingTuesday populating your social media platforms & inboxes.  Every 501(c)(3) non-profit organization is developing, building, and launching their end of year fundraising plan, and we are no different — our goal is $25,000 by the end of the year!

However, as usual, we wanted to be a bit different than the norm.  We are introducing a new hashtag: #WhyWednesday.  Our #WhyWednesday campaign is an opportunity to share with you why we love what we do with high school students and why your giving makes a difference in the lives of the next generation of community changers.

#WhyWednesday – We Teach & Define Leadership Differently

Our Leadership Curriculum is truly designed for a young people to live a life at altitude – a life above the status quo. We develop leaders through the lens of service, adventure, and community, and our Young Leaders take on the four summits of the Delicabron Loop.  We thought we’d share some quotes from those working on each of the summits.

Mt. Democrat Climbers
democrat climber

Because we have over 100 students from over 25 different high schools climbing towards this summit, we thought we’d share a quote from one of our non-profit leaders that has been directly affected by our Young Leaders.

“Youth are gifted with unique and considerable levels of passion.  They are longing for opportunities to test themselves and start making their mark on the world.  I believe in CYL because it calls out that passion, validates it, and provides the structure and guidance for it to be unleashed in truly constructive ways.  CYL leaders grow in confidence, expand their world views, and become powerfully creative members of their community.  What is not to believe in?” 
(Kelley, Colfax Community Network Staff Member)

Mt. Cameron Climbers
cameron climber

“Colorado Young Leaders has expanded my ability to contribute to my community. In just the few short months that I’ve been a part of this organization, I have invested into the lives of kids at the Colfax Community Network, taught sport skills to youth with disabilities at the National Sports Center for the Disabled, met with amazing role models, and learned so many skills to help me become a leader in my community.” (Emma, age 17)
Read Emma’s Blog post here.

Mt. Lincoln Climbers

lincoln climber

“I think the best quote to define CYL is one from Steve Jobs, “Stay hungry. Stay Foolish.” Always push to be better, do better, and live better. Don’t be afraid of failure. Our society is changingand the impossible is becoming possible. Nicole has made us want to be servants of “yes”. It doesn’t matter what it is, Colorado Young Leaders wants to get involved. She has taught us to answer the question, ‘What day is it?’ with ‘the best day of my life!’ We are writing our life story and get to choose what we do with it. Colorado Young Leaders show us options and gives us opportunities to leave a legacy.” (Maddy, age 17)  Read more about Maddy on our blog.

Mt. Bross Climbers
bross climbers

Because our program is so young, we have yet to have a Young Leader complete all four summits in our program.  We want to make our leadership program more accessible to students. We are looking to fund the creation of a virtual portal for our Young Leaders that will have the following features.

  1. The ability to track their volunteer hours and leadership summits.
  2. The ability for students to build profiles of social good that can be communicated internally and externally.
  3. The ability for our staff to measure our collective impact and celebrate the growth of our Young Leaders.
  4. The ability to grow our program through curriculum distribution and quality control through volunteer and partner organization empowerment.

This system will cost us $13,000 to build.  Interested in a major-gift to sponsor this entire system?  Email us today.

So #WhyWednesday – why are these students stories and successes important for us to share? Because we believe in what we do.  We see leadership differently at CYL. Our Young Leaders are redefining leadership for us every day through the impact they are making in the local community – they are choosing to be a leaders who puts others before themselves, who provide hope & dignity, who aren’t afraid to fail, who understand this life is an adventure and it’s the journey that really matters… they are Young Leaders who understands their legacy starts now.  #WhyWednesday… because these students are amazing.

 

Ready to give?  #ChooseCYL as your end of the year giving non-profit.  We need your help with this future generation.
Learn about specific ways your donation will be used in the New Year here.