3 Ways to Give Back to the Community

If it’s one lesson you may have learned since the onset of Covid-19, it’s that tragedy can impact the course of your life in a way you may never have anticipated, proving that this moment you are in right now can be here in one breath and gone before the next has a chance to expel.

This revelation has you thinking more deeply about how you spend your time, energy, and dollars and how you can create a way for your life and legacy to make the biggest impact possible.

You have found yourself searching for ways to give back to the community, and there are certainly many important causes out there to help you fulfill your vision and build a reputable and long-lasting legacy.

Eckerd Connects Project Bridge offers several ways for you to give back. Today you will learn the top 3 ways your time, finances, and resources can be invested to make the most meaningful impact on the lives of the most at-risk youth and families around.

Project Bridge is a program that serves youth between the ages of 11-21 years-of-age who have been involved with the juvenile justice system due to overwhelming risk factors in their homes and environments. The team with Project Bridge wraps services around these youth to target those risk factors and help the youth have every chance possible at a life of safety, security, and success.

How can you help?

The cliché’ “It Takes a Village” may be aged, but it still certainly rings true when it comes to children growing up in an environment that will allow them to glean the protection, wisdom, education, and resources necessary to grow and develop into stable and self-sufficient young adults.

You don’t have to have it all to be a vital member of this essential village.

You just have to be willing to use what you do have.

Check out these 3 ways you can get involved.

Give of Your Time: Become A Mentor

Maybe you have always wanted to work with young people and know that your life and experiences will enrich the life of a young person in some way. Giving your time and sharing your experiences is a great way to give back.

It’s also life-changing for the young people you mentor.

According to MENTOR, of the young adults connected with a positive influence: ?

·??????? 55% are less likely than their peers to skip a day of school

·??????? 78% are more likely to volunteer regularly

·??????? 90% desire to give back by becoming a mentor to others

·??????? 130% are more likely to hold leadership positions

That’s not all!

Youth who are connected with a positive influence are:

·??????? 55% more likely to overcome opportunity gaps and enroll in college or vocational school than their peers without a positive influence

·??????? 46% less likely than their peers to start using illegal drugs and 27% less likely to start drinking (Public/Private Ventures study of Big Brothers Big Sisters.)

Project Bridge youth are located in every community throughout Central and South Florida. There are endless opportunities to give back to your community by being a positive role model in a young person’s life.

Give of Your Talent: Become a Tutor

Perhaps you’ve been told you are good at breaking down concepts and teaching. Tutoring a young person in Math and/or Language Arts is a great way to volunteer your time and is extremely needful for youth enrolled in Project Bridge.

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”

— Nelson Mandela

Mandela is right.

Not only can education change the world, having an education can change and even save the lives of the young people on the receiving end of that education.

You can be the vessel to carry education, life, and a future to youth in your community as a tutor.

Give of Your Finances: Become a Donor

You may desperately desire to give back and make a difference in your community, but fitting in the extra time to volunteer just isn’t something you can do right now.

Where you cannot stretch your time to fit your want to give back, you can stretch your dollars.

Your financial investment as your means of giving back can make a significant and lasting impact on youth and families in your community.

Food and Shelter Insecurities Support

You can’t bear to think about anyone going to bed hungry, not knowing where their next meal is coming from.

You’re equally anxious thinking about those who don’t have a safe and consistent place to lay their heads at night.

You can help assure that youth have another meal on their table and a safe and stable place to call home with your financial investment.

According to statistics reported by the Economic Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, more than 38.3 million people lived in food-insecure households this past year with that number increasing in households with children, a single mother as the provider, and households with minorities.

The Florida Department of Education reported similarly alarming statistics for housing insecurities for the past year, showing that at least 79,949 students experienced homelessness within the school year – and those are just the reported cases.

Leadership and Entrepreneurship Development

Perhaps you have a special place in your heart for leadership and/or entrepreneurship development in young people.

Project Bridge offers two excellent ways you have give back to your community AND help young people learn important leadership skills and even the skills necessary to start their own business one day.

L.E.A.D. Tuesdays – Every Tuesday Project Bridge youth from across Central and South Florida join together virtually to learn about leadership and entrepreneurship. Youth who participate in these sessions have the chance to earn stipends and some even have the opportunity to qualify for scholarships for post-secondary education and small business start-up.

Youth Leadership with Speak4MC – Every other week successfully discharged youth meet with Curtis Campogni, CEO of Speak4MC, to receive personalized leadership classes inspired by Motivational Interviewing techniques.

Youth who graduate from this leadership series earn a stipend for educational, vocational, and emergent needs and have the chance to qualify for advanced leadership training.

No matter if it’s giving of your time, your talent, or your finances – you can give back and your investment in the lives of those most in need in your community will make a great impact!

With life and moments proving to be fleeting, you don’t have to wait to start giving back.

You can start today.

Use this link to Email the Project Bridge team to learn how to become a mentor or a tutor: https://eckerd.org/juvenile-justice-services/community-based-services/project-bridge/become-a-mentor/

Follow this link to become a donor and put your dollars to work in the community: https://eckerd.org/juvenile-justice-services/community-based-services/project-bridge/donate-to-project-bridge/