Carter County Drug Prevention Coalition holds 9/11 Day Youth Service Project
Published 5:16 pm Friday, September 11, 2020
1 of 8
Contributed Photos Reece said this day helped the mental health of youth in addition to serving the community.
|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
September 11, 2001 changed the world forever.
On that fateful day 19 years ago, thousands of lives were lost due to orchestrated terror attacks.
Now, 9/11 Day of Service and Remembrance is officially designated as a National Day of Service by the 2009 Serve America Act.
On Thursday, Sept. 10, Carter County Drug Prevention’s Youth Coalition worked to turn the day of tragedy into giving back. The event was funded by a grant received from Youth Service America.
“We wanted to do something virtually and some things in person so that everybody could participate,” explained Jilian Reece, director of the CCDPC.
The youth decided to aid in Red Legacy Recovery.
Reece said the response was great with around 80 people throughout the day. Children ranged from the ages of two to 18 with their parents.
“It was cool to see them interacting with each other and be able to do something good together,” said Reece.
In addition to helping aid in doing good on a day immersed in a tragic past, Reece said this was also helpful for youth and their own mental health.
“I think right now we are seeing a lot of kids struggling with mental health and substance abuse and other things because of isolation and anxiety about the world,” she explained. “For me the most important thing was bringing kids together to do a good thing in a safe space and just letting them be together like we would normally be doing.”
Like Reece, Youth Coalition member, Cloe Clark, believes 9/11 day cannot only help people give back, but also help mental health.
“We know that mental health struggles have been exacerbated by COVID-19,” said Clark. “We also know that the events surrounding 9/11 created some real mental health challenges for many in our country, so we feel that there is nothing better that we could do to honor those first responders and those who lost loved ones on 9/11 than to offer these virtual opportunities for connection and support for our community.”
While the coalition has done plenty of community service projects before, this is the first event for 9/11. Reece said she hopes to do a service project on 9/11 day again. The next larger scale project is anticipated to be around January for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
The youth coalition has regular monthly service projects and also has meetings every Wednesday via ZOOM. Any student who lives, works, worships or spends time in Carter County is welcome to be part of the CCDP youth coalition service projects or events.
For more information, contact Jilian Reece at ccdpdirector@outlook.com.
