When 15-year-old Lajuanne is asked what he likes most about being a youth leader in an after-school program, he gives a big smile. “The best pay for this kind of work isn’t the actual pay you get but it’s walking down the street and some little kid seeing me in public and running up to me,” he says. “I feel like a hero.” The program has inspired Lajuanne to become a drama teacher. Lajuanne works for Red Fox Healthy Living Society’s Youth Leadership program run at Westview Elementary in North Vancouver. The program is funded by United Way. For 24-year-old Verdann, a supervisor of the Youth Leadership program, she gained confidence, hope for the future, and a career. The program also exposed her to indigenous mentors. “I grew up as an ‘Urban Indian.’ I grew up without a lot of culture, not any sense of language or any history or context except what we learned in school books,” she says. “Red Fox is really neat because there were older Indigenous mentors who I could look up to so I could see what was possible for me.” Verdann went through the Youth Leadership program and now is employed by Red Fox Healthy Living Society. “It gave me that ability to start making some money, buy my own groceries so I can eat healthy, graduate high school, get work experience and move onto college.” United Way British Columbia invests $5.1 million into programs that help school-age kids grow up healthy. Kim Winchell, Director of Social Impact, United Way British Columbia, describes the benefits of after-school programs like this. “In those critical after-school hours between 3 and 6 pm, we make sure these children have a safe supportive place where they can go, be themselves, learn social skills, develop into caring human beings,” she said. The return on investment in children’s programming is solid with some studies saying that the return on every dollar invested is $7. The other return on investment is that we are investing in our future. Help children reach their full potential. This holiday season you can help kids thrive in 2017 with a donation to United Way. Give by December 31 to receive a 2016 charitable tax receipt.
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