The Rainbow Initiative, a group focused on connecting youth to generate ideas to make positive changes in the community, held its second open meeting at the Orillia Youth Centre on Saturday.
Alida Tomasini, founder of the Rainbow Initiative, says the group has formulated two strong ideas it will be pursuing. The first is a book club to connect youth with seniors to talk about important issues surrounding homelessness and mental health.
"Youth and seniors don't interact very much," Tomasini said. "We want to blend that kind of experience with youthfulness."
Tomasini, 14, says seniors can provide youth with a more mature perspective.
"You only know what you've experienced," they said. "You have to talk with people to learn more about the world. Connecting youth with seniors is a way for them to share their experiences and perspectives."
Tomasini says there is already a group of seniors who have volunteered to participate with the program.
"I hope the seniors will gain as much from this as the youth will," they said. "Youth can provide joy and can also teach seniors what it's like to be a youth in today's world."
The second idea is to make skateboarding more accessible in Orillia for beginners.
"It's something that is really hard to get into when you are young," Tomasini said. "It can be overwhelming if you don't really know what you are doing."
The Rainbow Initiative plans to create a group to help teach youth the techniques of skateboarding.
"We also want to make some easier jumps and features at the skateboard park," Tomasini said.
Once members of the Rainbow Initiative come up with three more ideas they want to pursue, they will be assigned a mentor from the community, who will help them present the ideas to a panel of judges in the spring. If successful, the group will be awarded money to help make their ideas come to fruition.
"We hope to have a pot of $1,000," Tomasini said. "The judges will then decide how much funding will go to each project."
For those who would like to donate, the Rainbow Initiative is accepting donations at Jack and Maddy's, Manticore Books, and Pocket Skate & Vintage in downtown Orillia.
Tomasini says it's exciting to have youth involved in discussions on how to improve the community.
"I'm excited to see where this is going to go. I'm really happy with where we are at today," they said.
So far, there are more than 10 youth involved with the Rainbow Initiative.
"I really hope that the Rainbow Initiative is a space where every youth in Orillia feels they can come to," Tomasini said. "It's somewhere youth can come to pitch an idea and have the support to make it happen."
Those interested in becoming a mentor or judge for the Rainbow Initiative, or who know a youth who would like to get involved, can reach out to the group at [email protected].
