HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

From all of us on the YAC team, we wish you Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!!!

We hope you will reflect on how to make your YAC a better program so when you return to your meetings in 2012 you will have fresh ideas and a new perspective on how to have a great grant cycle!

Don't forget to sign up for YAC Attack! and vote on your favorite t-shirt at http://arcf.org/TransformArkansas/YouthAdvisoryCouncilsYAC/2012YACAttack/tabid/348/Default.aspx!

Cheers,
The YAC team

Arkansas YACs: A trip down diversity lane

It’s always great to see the diverse audiences that the YAC program involves. When you have a program that reaches state-wide, you will find different structures, different members, and different community projects. With that said, the overall YAC program is just as diverse as the young people involved in its efforts. Very cool, right?

I had the privilege of traveling to Jonesboro to meet with the Craighead County YAC last Thursday. The Craighead County YAC meets at City Youth Ministries every month or so and has about 10 members. Jerry, Lisa, and Blake are the three advisors that are supporting the YAC and their community efforts. At the meeting we discussed different opportunities for them to help out in the community. They listed possible community service projects. They also discussed potential grant opportunities for school organizations that work to enable students to have a voice. It was a great meeting with lots of valuable discussion. We’ll be seeing great things from the Jonesboro YAC AND I have no doubt that we’ll see them at YAC ATTACK!

Until then...

Lea

Diversity: a definition

(di’vûr’si tē) n.

1.      1. variety.  2. the spice of life.  3. holidays with your eccentric (for lack of a better term) family. 

Whatever definition you think of when you hear the word “diversity,” what should be in the forefront of your mind is “YAC.”  Youth Advisory Councils depend on diversity to be effective.  How else will you understand the needs of your community if your YAC doesn’t reflect the people within the community?  Think of your YAC as a bowl of ice cream: you put more than just ice cream in the bowl, right?  You sniff through the buffet, sorting through every delicious combination of sweets imaginable: caramel; chocolate; sprinkles; cookie dough; cherries; nuts; hot fudge (are you drooling yet?).  You can’t make a sundae without the different toppings.

The point is this: One kind of person does not a YAC make.  As YAC members, every one of you should always be looking for ways to improve not only your community but the diversity of your group.  A diverse group opens doors to different ideas that one person can’t think of on his or her own.  You guys are a sounding board for each other so take advantage of the knowledge all of you can gain from other people’s insights. 

If the ice cream analogy didn’t tickle your cranial taste buds, here’s a great quote that might: 
“Great achievements are not born from a single vision but from the combination of many distinctive viewpoints. Diversity challenges assumptions, opens minds, and unlocks our potential to solve any problems we may face.” – Unknown

So challenge yourself and your YAC.  Become a diverse group that is united for a single cause:  to help youth in need.  You won’t regret gaining new insights.  We promise.