YouthCARE has been awarded a $2,500 grant from the East Central Energy (ECE) Operation Round Up Program for the 2009 Camp Sunrise summer program.

Operation Round Up is a program made possible be the ECE member-owners who voluntarily round up their monthly electric bill to the nearest dollar. The added pennies from each participant are combined in a trust fund and awarded to various community service organizations and projects which qualify under program guidelines and approved funding categories.

On Thursday, March 5, 2009 six youth from YouthCARE joined hundreds of youth from across the state for Youth Day at the Capitol. The Group of two Youth Advisory Council Members Dillion Brendmoen and Paying Moua along with four Youth Mentors Lul Abdullhai, Iris Andrews, Kisha Easley, and Sharmine Murphy spoke with Senator Scott Dibble from Minneapolis and Senator Sandra Pappas from St. Paul about the importance of funding youth programming in Minnesota. In addition to sharing their ideas with Senators, the youth participated in a lively rally in the Capitol Rotunda.

For more information about how you can support funding for youth programming please visit the Youth Community Connections website.

Sharmine, Lul, Iris, Paying, Dillion and Kisha

Group Outside the Capitol

YouthCARE/Camp Sunrise was selected from more than 1,000 kids' gardening programs nationwide to receive a 2009 Youth Garden Grant from the National Gardening Association, based in South Burlington, Vermont. This award-winning youth gardening program will receive an assortment of books donated by the National Gardening Association and a $250 gift card from The Home Depot, which recognizes that today's youth are the future of American gardening.

"National Gardening Association is proud to support this terrific kids' garden", says Michael Metallo, President. "This program was selected because of demonstrated commitment to actively and creatively engaging youth in the gardening process and to improving the community. We were able to see from their application that the garden program will be sustained for years to come."

For more information about the National Gardening Association or the Youth Garden Grants Program, contact; National Gardening Association (1100 Dorset St., South Burlington, VT. 05403) or visit www.kidsgardening.org.

Beasy McGlothlin has been hired as YouthCARE's new Development Assistant. As our part time Development Assistant, Beasy will assist the organization mainly on grant writing and researching grant opportunities.

Beasy first became involved with YouthCARE in 2004 as a mentor to a Young Women's Mentoring Program participant. She also served on the YouthCARE Board of Directors and is a current volunteer with The Young Women's Mentoring Program. In 2006, Beasy retired from a long and very successful 38 year career in the insurance industry; Beasy worked 17 years with Country and ended on a 21 year career with Travelers. Retirement has allowed Beasy to follow her passion and dream of working with and organization that serves to make a direct and lasting positive difference in the lives of young people.

You can reach Beasy at bmcglothlin@YouthCAREmn.org or 612/338-1233 (ext. 13).

2009 Officers:

*John Bachhuber - Board Chair, Director Total Rewards, Medtronic

*Gleason Glover - Vice Chair, Vice President - Sales & Marketing, Midwest Homes Services

*Shilpa Alva - Vice Chair, International Logistics Manager, Ecolab

*Gary Bystedt - Treasurer, Tax Consultant, Xcel Energy

*Lisa Turnham - Secretary, Consultant

New Directors:

*Ellen Wolter - Principal Planning Analyst, Hennepin County

*Kim Miller- Accenture

*Lica Tomizuka - Associate, Faegre & Benson LLP

*Linda Vang - Assistant to Assistant Vice President, University of Minnesota, Office for Equity & Diversity

*Tim Wendt - Human Resources Business Director, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

On Friday, October 24, 2008 YouthCARE staff, volunteers and MNToP facilitators worked together to brainstorm and participate in the action planning process for YouthCARE's upcoming "Celebration of Urban Youth" event. MNToP (Technology of Participation) provides training and facilitation services that develop and nurture a culture of participation and build capacity for change in communities and organizations. YouthCARE benefitted greatly from this process and the staff and volunteers are excited to implement the action steps determined during the meeting. In addition, YouthCARE would like to extend our thanks to the MNToP facilitators who volunteered their time and services to help lead an exciting discussion about YouthCARE events going forward. If you're interested in learning more about MNToP click here.

On Tuesday, October 7, 2008, YouthCARE recognized the commitment and hard work contributed by Xcel Energy volunteers for YouthCARE's Camp Sunrise Program.

A sincere thank you to the Xcel Energy employees who gave their time and energy to help teach and support Minneapolis and St. Paul youth as Volunteer Counselors, Business Partners, School Year Volunteers.

We also want to extend our deep gratitude to the following Xcel Energy Departments who have dedicated time and services for the Camp Sunrise Program:
Riverside Training Center
Minneapolis Chestnut Service Center Garage
Rice Street Garage
Safety Department
Vegetation Management Department
Communications Department
Community Affairs Department
The Xcel Energy Foundation

On Friday, August 22, 2008, YouthCARE hosted Visitor's Day at Camp Sunrise. Over 100 program alumni, family, friends, volunteers, community members and YouthCARE supporters came together to enjoy the famous Camp Sunrise eggrolls, food, activities, cultural events, and to celebrate another successful summer at Camp Sunrise. During the program, Representative Jeremy Kalin reminded us about the importance of the camp experience and how we can each do our part to maintain our rivers, lakes and forests for future generations. Junior Camp Staff beemed with pride as they described their work experience, the new friends they've made and the lessons learned while living at Camp Sunrise.

Executive Director, Craig Luedemann, presented Ceace Haagensen and Noke Sivoravong, two very committed volunteers, with the 2008 Bruce A. Palmer Distinguished Volunteer Service Award for their years of dedicated service to YouthCARE! Ceace, a former Volunteer Counselor and YouthCARE Board Member, currently works in the Community Affairs department at Xcel Energy and is an amazing resource for YouthCARE. Noke, a former camper, Counselor, and Camp Sunrise Director, currently works at the Minneapolis Community Technical College with the Power of You program and serves on YouthCARE's Board of Directors.

On April 29, 2008, Xcel Energy was presented with the 2008 Quality of Life Award from the Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce at the 17th Annual Quality of Life Awards Dinner.

The Quality of Life Award is a public way of congratulating local businesses for going above and beyond the normal call of business to provide desirable places to work and creating a positive difference in the community. Xcel Energy was celebrated for their 34-year partnership and work with YouthCARE's Camp Sunrise program, a youth development program focused on bringing together diverse youth to live and work in an outdoor multicultural community.

Todd Klingel, president and CEO of the Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce commented on the ceremony saying, "The Chamber is thrilled to recognize such fine examples of leadership around philanthropic giving in our community." To see the Xcel Energy and Camp Sunrise video clip shown at the awards ceremony, click here.

Picture on left:
Xcel Energy Volunteers build new steps to bath area.

On April 30, 2008, Paris and other four other youth from Minnesota shared their experiences growing up in Minnesota with our State Representatives. Paris spoke of the importance of out of school time funding and keeping class sizes small. She also shared what she felt were the important topics in this year's presidential campaign.

On May 13 and 14, 2008 Paris represented youth from Minnesota at the After School Challenge in Washington DC. As a representative from Minnesota, Paris attended the conference and had the opportunity to lobby on Capitol Hill. She met many representatives from Minnesota and their staff, a highlight for Paris was meeting Representative Keith Ellison from Minneapolis. Paris' trip was sponsored by Youth Community Connections, YouthCARE, and generous donations from many YouthCARE Board Members and supporters. Paris had a great time learning more about the political process and said it will be very helpful in achieving her career goals of working in politics.

March 2008, YouthCARE is honored to be recognized with Board Member, Tom Hubler, in an article in the community section of "Clique: Access to Local and Global Opportunities;" a newsletter distributed by Business Forums International.

In the article, Mr. Hubler describes his connection to YouthCARE saying:
"One of the things that excites me about YouthCARE is that it creates opportunities for inner-city kids to be recognized and singled out for their gifts and their strengths, and allows them an opportunity to manifest those gifts."

To read the article click here.

In the spring of 2007, a group of passionate alumni Youth Mentors (17-20 years old) and program staff met to brainstorm how to better prepare young women and girls for economic success. Through their discussions, it became clear that the Young Women's Mentoring Program's most significant untapped resource is its alumni Youth Mentors. They bring a unique insight into program management, opportunities for program growth and enhancement and the most pressing needs of their peers and the girls they serve.

As a result, the Young Women's Mentoring Program was granted a $10,000 grant for program expansion from the Women's Foundation of Minnesota girlsBEST Fund. With this grant the program staff and alumni Youth Mentors are working to expand the program to:

* Add a higher level of leadership and involvement by re-hiring alumni Youth Mentors (15-18 years old) as Junior Program Staff.
* Integrate economic readiness as a purpose and link for all programming.
* Create a comprehensive girl-led Youth Mentor Training Program in which girls learn to develop and teach leadership, employment, and cultural competency skills.

Thank you Women's Foundation of Minnesota!

Alumni Youth Mentor leads training for 2007-08 Youth Mentors