On November 28th, three youth-led initiatives were given $15,000 each to benefit their projects provided by the Royal Bank of Canada Foundation and the Red Deer and District Community Foundation. In total, $45,000 was handed out at the Penhold Multiplex.

“We have committed 500 million dollars over a ten-year time frame towards our future launch program. It just really focuses on our youth of the future,” said Ron Sauve, RBC Regional Vice President who added, “Youth are leaders today through social media, the voice they have, and the impact they have. Our key focus is to make sure that our Youth are prepared for the jobs of tomorrow.”

RBC is hosting the Future Launch Community Challenge in 150 communities across Canada. Here, The Red Deer and District Community Foundation’s committee members were tasked with choosing the winning applications based on a rubric.

“A big piece of it was making a change piece. How is this going to have a ripple effect? So not only is the event or the project going to be happening right then and there with these students but how is this going to affect change in the community at a later date,” explained Erin Peden, Interim Executive Director with Red Deer and District Community Foundation.

Sophia Bye and Skylar Strawson receiving $15,000 on behalf of the Penhold's Youth Advisory Committee.  

The first initiative recognized, was from Sophia Bye and Skyler Yon-Strawson with the Penhold’s Youth Advisory Committee. The two students will be using the grant to help facilitate workshops that develop self-confidence, public speaking, cooking basics, budgeting for groceries, nutrition, basic first aid, basic vehicle maintenance, self-care techniques, and art skills.

“We’re quite a small town so we don’t get as many workshops as say Red Deer or even Sylvan Lake,” explained Yon-Strawson.

“It’s nice to be able to do this for people in our community because it’s nice to have something to help people,” added Bye.

The workshops are meant to better prepare youth as they head into adulthood and delve into a variety of real-life scenarios and challenges. Both Bye and Yon-Strawson act as youth leaders within the committee.

Shahd Almasri (left) with other student leaders giving thanks for their $15,000 going towards a diversity workshop. 

The youth from four partnering organizations including C.A.R.E., Youth HQ Urban Aboriginal Voices Society and Lindsey Thurber High School will be using their grant to host a three-day diversity workshop to promote learning, relationship building, and the elimination of stereotypes.

“We will have some fun things to do, maybe we will have movies, we will do everything together. Our goal of this is to know what diversity is and to understand different people. We are all different and we want to understand people, their culture, their life,” explained Shahd Almasri who spoke on behalf of her initiative.

Almasri is a Syrian refugee who loves to share, culture, experiences, and especially international foods.

Tatyanna Stoesz (centre), students, and staff from HJ Cody Highschool receiving $15,000 for sensory-friendly theatre productions.

The last initiative will develop sensory-friendly theatre productions at HJ Cody Highschool. The theatre productions will be designed for audience members who require a more relaxed sensory experience such as people with Autism Spectrum Disorder, dementia, hearing or vision impairment, sensory processing disorder, physical disabilities, or learning disabilities.

Grade 12 drama student at HJ Cody School, Tatyanna Stoesz gave a run-down on how the relaxed performance functions in the theatre space.

“We’re going to keep the stair lights on. We’ll possibly keep our pot lights on so it’s a little bit brighter in the room for people who have to come and go. The mics will be turned down. The music will be turned down. We’re hoping to use some of the grant money to purchase beanbag chairs and hearing devices and all that fun stuff so we’re hoping to incorporate all of those into our relaxed performance,”

Stoesz stays active in many different ways within the community and also has recently received the 2019 Women of Excellence award.

The students and leaders were ecstatic to receive their money and move forward with their projects. Although it is a lot of money in young hands it sure seems like the future is bright.