Service Organizations Bring Nobel Laureate to Frogtown
St. Paul, Minn. – On Saturday, April 14, local nonprofits youthrive and the National Youth Leadership Council® will convene hundreds of youth and adults in the St. Paul neighborhood of Frogtown and surrounding communities to work side-by-side during Serve and Celebrate, a day of volunteer service. The 2003 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi will join the community for this daylong event.
Ebadi, who received the Prize for her work advancing children’s and women’s rights in Iran, will also offer a public talk Friday, April 13, from 4:30 – 5:30 p.m. at the Minneapolis Convention Center. Tickets are available on-site, and are $10.
Serve and Celebrate day highlights the year-round work of young people to address ten “Global Calls to Action” — issues promoted by a dozen Nobel Peace Prize laureates involved with the PeaceJam Foundation. “We are especially excited to be returning to Frogtown and the surrounding community for the second year in a row,” says youthrive Executive Director Donna Cook. “Our thanks to the Serve and Celebrate planning committee, and all the local residents — youth and adults — and organizations who have been working to make this a day of meaningful service.” Greater Twin Cities United Way and UPS sponsor the event. Service-learning projects — from health fairs, to community beautification, to mural-painting — will happen between 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. at neighborhood sites.
“We are excited to engage with community members in a great opportunity to showcase all that is underway in the Twin Cities, and get conference participants out into local neighborhoods,” says NYLC CEO Kelita Bak.
This “Serve and Celebrate” event is the culmination of the combined PeaceJam Leadership and National Service-Learning Conference, “Our World, Our Future,” held at the Minneapolis Convention Center April 11-14. The international conference also features Geoffrey Canada, founder of "The Harlem Children's Zone.”
For more information on Serve and Celebrate, visit www.nylc.org/conference.
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About youthrive: youthrive, the Upper Midwest Affiliate of PeaceJam Foundation, is a nonprofit organization that provides youth with leadership and service-learning opportunities for peace-building, social justice, human and environmental rights, and ethical leadership. Note to Editors: youthrive does not capitalize its name. www.youthrive.net
About NYLC: NYLC has been at the center of service-learning program and policy development since 1983. It annually convenes the National Service-Learning Conference, offers adult and youth trainings, develops service-learning resources, and advocates for supportive legislation locally and nationally. For more information, visit www.nylc.org
About PeaceJam: The mission of the PeaceJam Foundation, based in Denver, Colo., is to create young leaders committed to positive change in themselves, their communities and the world through the inspiration of Nobel Peace Laureates who pass on the spirit, skills, and wisdom they embody. http://www.peacejam.org
About Greater Twin Cities United Way: Greater Twin Cities United Way addresses our community’s most critical issues through the Agenda for Lasting Change – 10 measurable goals to create pathways out of poverty. We partner with business, government and nonprofit organizations to create lasting solutions and carry out our call-to-action to LIVE UNITED by encouraging everyone to Give. Advocate. Volunteer. Greater Twin Cities United Way is an independent organization serving Anoka, Carver, Chisago, Dakota, Hennepin, Isanti, Ramsey, Scott and western Washington counties. Join the movement. LIVE UNITED. For more information visit www.unitedwaytwincities.org or call (612) 340-7400.
