Hello Changemakers - from all of us here at United Way Youth Venture (UWYV), Changemaking and Portrait of a Graduate (POG).  

The whole UWYV staff participated in the 27th Annual United Way Day of Caring, on September 16. Staff worked at three sites, Crocker Pond in Westminster, the Sundial Apartments in Fitchburg, and Mount Wachusett Community College in Gardner. Read more about the projects at each site, below.

Youth Venture staff is back in schools and hosted the first Dream It, Do It Assembly of the school year at McKay Elementary School. 

We have two new videos to share. The Fab 5 Venture Team (also our summer interns) talked about their journey in Youth Venture. The second video is about how the Youth Venture model worked as the basis for how students in social studies at Fitchburg High School can create a Civics Action Project, which is now a state requirement for graduation.

We welcome our newest Outreach Specialist, Scott Higgins, to the UWYV Team!

As always, we are grateful for your continued support.  

~the United Way Youth Venture Team!



Welcome Scott Higgins

Scott is the newest member of the UWYV team. He is a graduate of UMass Boston where he earned his degree in English Literature and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Currently, he is working on his Early Childhood Education Certificate at MWCC.

In his role as UWYV Outreach Specialist, Scott will be responsible for youth outreach at partnering schools and organizations, delivering and facilitating quality programming through the UWYV framework.

Scott has had the privilege to work and volunteer with some amazing nonprofit organizations in North Central Mass and in the Greater Boston area throughout his academic and professional career. He is honored to add United Way Youth Venture to that list, which includes the Montachusett Regional YMCA, Habitat for Humanity, the Lunenburg Boys & Girls Club, 826 Boston, the Jamaica Plain Community Fridge, and the Dedham Food Pantry. 

UWYV is excited to have Scott on the team! Welcome Scott!

The UWYV team volunteered at the United Way Day of Caring on Friday September 16, which started with a delicious breakfast kickoff event at Great Wolf Lodge. From there the team separated to join different sites in the community to work on projects at each organization. 

Staff volunteered at the Crocker Pond in Westminster site to help close and winterize the facility. They brought in the docks and buoys, then cleaned, repaired and stored them. They covered grills, and cleaned and repaired equipment. They even painted a shed. They had the honor of working alongside an Oakmont Youth Venture Team, BAWC (Beautifying Ashburnham and Westminster Communities).  

At the Sundial Apartments in Fitchburg staff helped clean up the community garden. We spent the morning weeding, shoveling, and building new garden beds! It was great to join members of the community to help give back and improve the garden for residents of the Sundial.

For the United Way Day of Caring service projects at Mount Wachusett Community College, hosted by the Brewer Center for Civic Learning & Community Engagement, staff assisted Brewer Center staff as they guided students in hands-on individual projects. Students made 44 hand warmers, 37 cat toys for the Gardner Animal Shelter, 23 thank you cards for first responders, and planted 40 plants for their new friends!! 

Fab 5 Venture Team

Four members of the Fab 5 Venture Team talk about what their journey in Youth Venture was like for them, from middle school through high school. 

Youth Venture supports Civics Action Projects at Fitchburg High School

Discover what teachers and students at FHS felt about participating (and what future students can expect) in the Civics Action Project within the social studies class hosted by teacher Bryan Baxter and UWYV Director, Lauren Mountain.  

Dream It, Do It!

UWYV presented the first Dream It, Do It, assembly of the school year, (and the first since 2019!) The hope is that every 4th and 5th grader at McKay Elementary School left the auditorium motivated and inspired! The message was that even young people can make change and have a voice. Youth Venture staff looks forward to seeing what community project they choose to create together as a school-wide Venture Team.