Youth at District 220 invited to serve on an Advisory Board

District 220 youth service volunteers were delighted to be invited to serve on the Advisory Board for the non profit program called Outside the Walls, Chicago. This is a ministry that directs its efforts toward individuals, adult and juvenile, coming out of incarceration, as well as using drugs or in recovery from drug use. The ministry has and does still assist in areas of housing (over 60 placements including 5 families this year), rental assistance (numerous individuals assisted with security deposits and partial rent payments, utilities etc.), transportation (over 300 bus passes given out weekly, monthly), furnishings, treatment placements over 700 individuals to date placed in treatment or therapeutic housing).The ministry is well known for it’s giving during the Christmas season. The young men at Joliet I.Y.C., Chicago I.Y.C. and St. Charles I.Y.C.(youth prison) receives sweat suits, new gym shoes and toiletries for the entire program, along with a Christmas feast of a meal with a powerful Christmas Program. Hundreds of children have received toys and hundreds of families have received baskets including food, brand new clothes, and gift cards.

Below is a video of the last Christmas lunch in 2019:

For the past 7 years youth and their adult mentors at Chess Without Borders collaborated with Barrington and Salem United Methodist Churches to raise funds and collect toys, winter clothing and gifts for this vulnerable population. Observing their commitment and social entrepreneurial skills Rev Tommie Johnson the Executive Director invited them to serve on the advisory board along with other talented youth. Most of these youth honed their marketing, public speaking and tech skills while volunteering at Chess Without Borders since they were young. By working on long term projects such as establishing a computer center or educational program in the slums of Delhi, India they faced challenges and needed to reach goals to accomplish their projects. Together they donated over $200,000 for local and global charities. They have won many awards and been delegates to the UN Youth Assembly in New York. This position as a board members will challenge them and further advance their skills.

District 220 has provided a rich environment by supporting their ventures and preparing youth to contribute generously towards society. A special thanks also goes to their mentors, Zein Bertacchi, Peggy Schwartz, Maggie Gruber Black, Rishi Sethi, GM Shulman, Amanda Vondrak Marion Wulf and last but not least Sam Oliver who paved the way for their success as humanitarians at this young age.

Serving as board members are Eleanore van Marjvik Kooy, Nabeel Rashid, Jocelyn Ding, Prashanth Ramachandra. Other youth who contributed are Ethan Gagliano, Sanjaya and Sahitya Maheshwaram and Sidhu Gehlaut. Maria Toro and Philip Philip are also on the advisory board as tech mentors for the program.

Their humanitarian achievements are documented in a just released book on Apple:

https://books.apple.com/us/book/raising-social-entrepreneurs/id1572892938