Youth-2-Youth summit being held Friday

Jodi Cooper (left), the director of community impact of United Way Hastings and Prince Edward, and Melissa Wyatt, the Youth-2-Youth co-ordinator, spoke at the Belleville council meeting Monday about the Youth-2-youth summit Friday, and invited Mayor Mitch Panciuk and council members to come for lunch and activities. Photo via youth2youthhpe on Instagram

By Brock Butler

BELLEVILLE – A summit being held Friday at the Mohawk Community Centre in Deseronto is aimed at encouraging youth leadership in Hastings and Prince Edward counties, Belleville city council heard Monday.

Jodi Cooper, the director of community impact of the United Way Hastings and Prince Edward, and Melissa Wyatt, co-ordinator of Youth-2-Youth, a youth-led group that works to spark innovative thinking and problem-solving in this area, spoke to council about the event and invited council members to a lunch at the summit that involves activities like yoga, bubble soccer and giant Jenga.

The summit will feature guest speaker Phil Kerr, a cancer survivor and adaptive sports expert, and workshops that will help participants develop networking skills, overcome difficult situations and take action.

“We know the youth are the important part of who we are as a community,” Cooper told the councillors. “Their vibrancy and passion for the world around them is contagious, and we want them to harness their energy to effect the change they want to see in the world.”

The summit, which runs from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., is for young people aged 14 to 24 from North Hastings, Central Hastings, Belleville, Quinte West and Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, as well as Prince Edward and Lennox and Addington counties.

Advance registration is required, and can be done here.

Attendance can be applied toward required high-school community hours. They will receive a certificate that can be put into their portfolios.

Belleville Mayor Mitch Panciuk told QNet News that this is the second year council has supported the Youth 2 Youth event.

Council encourages young people to be more “aware of the world they live in, more aware of how we make decisions,” Panciuk said. “We want to hear their voice. We want to get input from young people so we can make better decisions when we have their input.”

Cooper and Wyatt said they have more events planned past the summit to “create a life for the Youth-2-Youth movement.”