Rio to Rio + 20 Update_Call for Applications for GEEBIZ Competition : Re-inventing Green Corporation

Greetings Friends,

We just had interesting news from our partner - Peace Child International on the lunch of the Road to Rio + 20 Green Business Competition.

Please follow this link to check it up and apply if you meet the requirements:
http://www.opportunitiesforyouth.org/2011/05/06/the-small-is-challenge-calling-all-young-inventors/

Thank you in advance and don't forget to follow us on our new Facebook fun page at:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Young-People-We-Care/143440732395259

if you want to still receive regular updates from us on youth and development issues.

Regards

Emmanuel Duker

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE : YOUNG PEOPLE WE CARE (YPWC) RECEIVES YOUTH SERVICE AMERICA’S DISNEY’S FRIENDS FOR CHANGE GRANT TO HELP KIDS MAKE A DIFFERENCE

BUNKPURUGU-YUNYOO, NORTHERN REGION –13TH APRIL 2011– MATTHEW NYANNUBE YOSAH, A COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT STUDENT AT UNIVERSITY FOR DEVELOPMENT STUDIES WA, AND PROJECT OFFICER OF YOUNG PEOPLE WE CARE (YPWC) GHANA IN NORTHERN REGION was one of the selected youth leaders around the world to be awarded a $500 Disney’s fiends for Change Grant from YSA (Youth Service America) to support youth-led projects encouraging kids, families and communities to work together to make a positive change in their world.

One of 20 grants awarded in the United States, Matthew Nyannube Yosah will implement Youth Participatory Environmental Action for Sustainable Development from April 15th to 17th in celebration of Global Youth Service Day, the world’s largest and longest-running youth-led service campaign. According to Matthew, ‘Youth Participatory Environmental Action for Sustainable Development is a community felt, need-based and grassroots approach to a youth-led community action project that seeks to enhance the environmental health of communities. Located in the Northern Region of Ghana, an intervention is needed to enhance the attainment of the Millennium Development Goal 7 (Ensuring Environmental Sustainability) and improving climate change globally’.

Disney's Friends for Change (www.disney.com/projectgreen) is a program created to inspire kids and families to join together and make a positive impact on their world (and the people and animals that live there). The grants offer youth needed resources to bring environmental initiatives to life and inspire change within their local communities.

“These grants were extremely competitive, but ‘Youth Participatory Environmental Action for Sustainable Development’ exemplified the goals of the Disney’s Friends for Change program,” said Steve Culbertson, President and CEO of Youth Service America. “Young people in Kinkangu want to make a difference, and Disney’s Friends for Change Grant, in coordination with YSA (Youth Service America), offers them the resources needed to make a positive, measurable impact on their community.”

Now in its 23rd year, Global Youth Service Day (GYSD) engages millions of young people via partnerships with schools, youth development, community, and faith-based organizations. Events are currently planned in more than 100 countries and in all 50 states, addressing the most challenging local, national and global issues facing the world including health, literacy, childhood hunger and the environment.

"Kids and families are at the heart of everything we do athttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif Disney. We strive to partner with and inspire the next generation to improve the planet’s future by using creativity, arts and problem--solving to make a difference through Disney’s Friends for Change Grants,” said Leslie Goodman, senior vice president, Corporate Citizenship, The Walt Disney Company.

For more information about Youth Participatory Environmental Action For Sustainable Development visit www.ypwc.org and also join our Facebook fun page. For more information about YSA (Youth Service America) and Global Youth Service Day (GYSD), visit www.YSA.org.

###

Disney's Friends for Change is a multiplatform initiative that helps inspire kids and families to join together and make a positive impact on their world (and the people and animals that live there). Through PSAs on-air and online tool-kits, the program aims to provide useful information to help kids make small changes that add up to big differences. As part of the program, Disney donates $1 million dollars annually to fund projects all around the globe and has funded over 41 projects that help the planet ranging from educational & community programs to species & habitat protection. Friends for Change currently has over 3 million actions taking place from kids in 33 countries throughout Europe, Latin America, Japan, India, and China. Kids can join online at www.Disney.com/projectgreen .

Youth Service America (YSA) improves communities by increasing the number and the diversity of young people, ages 5-25, serving in substantive roles. Founded in 1986, YSA supports a global culture of engaged youth committed to a lifetime of service, learning, leadership, and achievement. The impact of YSA’s work through service and service-learning is measured in student achievement, workplace readiness, and healthy communities. For more information, visit www.YSA.org.

Young People We Care (YPWC) is a youth led and youth focused organization headquartered in Ghana. Founded in 2005,our mission is to educate and inform youth on global issues, inspire them to take action, encourage their participation in global issues, identify and build sustainable partnerships aimed at youth development and provide young people with tools and resources for effective action. Our vision is to provide a ‘youthful voice’ that seeks to address the numerous challenges facing young people by effectively using young resourceful minds to influence the course of global policy formulation and development in a consistent and harmonized manner. For more information, visit: www.ypwc.org .

CONTACT:
Diane Dray
818-567-5384
The Walt Disney Company
diane.dray@disney.com

Jen Voss
Youth Service America
202-650-5064
jvoss@ysa.org

Matthew Nyannube Yosah
Young People We Care/ Development Education Club
+233-249431332
matthew@ypwc.org

Young People Move to Save the Planet: Flow Day of Service

An Earth Day Block Party, hosted by Step by Step http://www.stepbystepwv.org/ a community education nonprofit, was held at the Big Ugly Community Center on Saturday, April 18^th from 10:00 AM to 4:30 PM. Students from Logan, Lincoln and Kanawha counties were joined by AmeriCorps VISTAs and Earlham College volunteers for discussions, presentations and community service. Participants and volunteers numbered over 80.

FLOW (Future Leaders of Watersheds)- http://www.stepbystepwv.org/blogs/ - participants from four sites gave short presentations about water to the public. Ric MacDowell, Director of the EPA Alternative Wastewater Demonstration Project, gave a presentation about septic tanks and wells, then led a brainstorm session that determined two pressing water issues. Youth and adults broke into two discussion groups then reported their recommendations back to the group. Community member Dale Kennedy participated in the event. “It was quite educational. I took away from it a few tid-bits about my water treatment system that I will be using.”

After an outdoor lunch, community members and youth worked on service activities, including a stream clean-up and tree planting on stream banks. Youth and volunteers waded through the creek for a half mile and picked up 236 lbs of garbage, and 75 lbs of recyclables. Mark Buchanan, with the Conservation Agency, directed the riparian (stream bank) tree planting project where volunteers planted over 150 riparian trees, including silky dogwood and tulip poplar. “It was very good thing for the community,” Kennedy commented. “A lot of the trees we have now are dying, and we needed some new life in this area.” Volunteers also interviewed 10 people and recorded their thoughts about local water issues. Project FLOW teens will use this information to create videos that highlight community concerns.

Project FLOW is a water education program that uses hands-on service learning to introduce environmental concepts, stewardship, and leadership development. This event is funded by a Learn and Serve Project FLOW grant through the West Virginia Commission for National and Community Service and a West Virginia DEP Stream Partners Grant. The WVDEP’s Make it Shine Program provided supplies for the cleanup and trees were provided by the Conservation Agency. The Block Party is a combination event to celebrate FLOW Day of Service, Global Youth Service Day and Earth Day. Participating Project FLOW sites are the Big Ugly Community Center, Harts Primary, Omar Elementary, and East End Family Resource Center. Please contact Matt Walker at 304-855-5402 or mwalker@stepbystepwv.org for more information about Project FLOW or to learn more about the Big Ugly Community Center.

----