Scholarship Essay Entry – Peter C.
Ever since I was young I have been interested in helping out in my community; however, it wasn't until high school that I really started to find my passion for volunteering. There are two organizations in particular -the City of Edmonton Youth Council (CEYC) and Rotary- which I feel have inspired me the most to make a difference in my local community.
The CEYC is an official body recognized by City Council and as such we have the ear of the councillors and the mayor. In the CEYC, I hold the position of Vice-Chair Membership and play an active role on the Homelessness Subcommittee. Through the CEYC, I have vouched for City Council to work on a permanent solution to the problem of poverty within Edmonton, and I believe the CEYC contributed greatly to Mayor Mandel's implementation of the Plan to End Homelessness. In addition, the CEYC does its own projects in regards to homelessness. In the past I helped to organize the Heart2Art contest and gala to raise awareness and funds for homelessness. In total, we had 100s of youth art entries, raised over $100,000 for Boyle Street Community Services, and generated much media exposure on the issue.
Recently I organized a massive project called the Street Speak Mural (SSM). The SSM is a project that gives homeless people a chance to have their voice heard, to personalize the idea of poverty and homelessness in Edmonton. In essence, we brought large 6' x 4' panels to community outreach centers and allowed the clients to come and express themselves in any which way they chose. After ten such panels were completed, they were displayed in City Hall with an accompanying media launch to increase awareness about the problem.
In addition to my CEYC work, I am part of Rotary, which is an organization dedicated to service above self within the community. As vice-president of a Rotary club I have played an integral role in executing various programs and fundraisers to help the community. Some of the more prominent projects include a book drive for inner city schools that garnered over 11,000 books, and two afterschool programs I helped to create and maintain. The first program is aimed at providing sports recreation for less privileged inner-city elementary schools and the second, called Magic Mondays, focuses on one elementary (Delton) where volunteers act as mentors to the students.
It is through these organizations that I have come to realize that before we can ever hope to end poverty abroad, we must first target apathy and poverty at home. I am extremely motivated to instil this grassroots change of mentality in Edmonton. Currently I am attending the University of Alberta and will begin my first year in the Medical Program in September. After graduation, my ultimate goal is to open a local non-profit clinic in Edmonton. Until then I will continue to work at raising awareness about poverty in hopes to eventually end it.
