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Sierra Vista City Council members partnered with Peach’s Pantry, a 501c3 that provides food to students in need, to develop Peach’s Youth Leadership Fund.
Sierra Vista City Councilman Mark Rodriguez said he got the idea for the fund after seeing other youth committees participate in the National League of Cities in Washington, D.C.
“When I went to D.C. the same March last year and saw the youth committees from all over the country, I just said, ‘We have to convene the youth committees here, we have to convene them here. I thought, “I have to do this, they have to see this.” They have to participate. It only happens once in a lifetime. ”
Rodriguez said the culminating event of the National League of Cities conference is going to the Capitol and meeting with legislators from each state.
One problem is that it costs about $13,000 for four commissioners to attend.
“Young people have a lot of good ideas. They want to do big things, they have big ideas. But they need money and every commission has a very small budget. For example,” Rodriguez said. , for the youth committee to do something, we had — for example — $1,200 dollars…
Rodriguez continued: “The council did not support me in paying for this trip.” “Because at the end of the day, it’s using taxpayer money…The purpose of it, you know, is to give them an experience of the mind, and to show them that there’s life outside of Sierra Vista.” It just shows. There’s a lot they can bring. Whether they stay here for the rest of their lives or not, they’ll contribute to our town. They’ll be better people for this town.”
Rodriguez, who is the liaison between the City Council and the youth committee, said he hopes to raise enough money to send a youth committee to the National City League in Washington, D.C.
Sara Pacheco, executive director and founder of Peaches Pantry, a food backpack program that provides food to students in need at 20 schools in the region, donates to the pantry and then uses it to He said anyone can donate to the fund by using it for the following purposes. Peach Youth Leadership Fund.
“Since starting Peaches Pantry, I have had the good fortune to work with many youth groups in Sierra Vista,” Pacheco said. “I’ve really enjoyed working with young people over the last 10 years and it’s great to put money into it. We help them raise money where they can apply. We support youth committees by providing grants and funding that enable them to achieve their goals through nonprofit organizations, as well as working with other youth groups.
“And my heart is really trying to grow that spirit of service, which I believe our youth groups, our youth committees, are doing very well, but you know, , to foster a spirit of service to our youth and help them understand the value of serving our community, coming together as a community, and making the world around us a better place and our It’s about what happens when we all work together to make our city a better place,” Pacheco continued.
They said the fund could be used not only for the youth committee but also for other youth initiatives.
“All initiatives will be driven by young people, which is what we both want, but the children themselves will come up with ideas and drive where they go and how they are used. That’s what we want you to do,” Pacheco said. “If someone wanted to donate to it, they would just donate to Peach’s Pantry and allocate the Youth Leadership Fund.”
She said the fund has raised about $7,000 so far.
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