Dorchester Community Unites in Thankfulness, Appreciation
For many Boston-area young people, Monday, November 12 marked a time of relaxation and quiet remembrance as students enjoyed a day off from the hustle and bustle of their usual school routine in observance of Veteran's Day. For several youth in Dorchester, it also meant getting their feet wet in the world of community organizing, public speaking, and volunteer coordination as they actively participated in the Fourth Annual Being Thankful for My Community Day in Codman Square.
"Our community has a lot to be thankful for," remarked 16 year-old Elienid Paz Ramos, a local youth activist and one of the coordinators for the event. "Too many people just think of guns and are afraid to come [to Dorchester], but this is a neighborhood of people who care about each other. Everyone needs to know that."
The theme of thankfulness and care was echoed throughout the day by organizers and participants alike. Over seventy volunteers and community members- including several veterans- came together to tangibly care for the neighborhood by partnering in a clean up of a block-long parking lot behind Syria Temple on Norfolk Street. Children and youth from surrounding streets worked shoulder to shoulder with twenty-three middle school volunteers from First Parish Church of York, Maine. A team of officers from the local Boston Police Safe Street Initiative raked and bagged leaves beside committed Syria Temple members. Community organizers and youth workers from the Codman Square Neighborhood Development Corporation, the City of Boston Streetworkers and The Boston Project Ministries together swept up the broken glass and dead leaves cluttering the lot.
"There are people from eight to eighty years old working together here," commented Oliver Dillon, a longstanding member of Syria Temple.
One business in particular was recognized with a moment of silence. Ramos requested remembrance for Stalex Pizza and appreciation for the life of Mumin Manavoglu, the shop owner who was recently murdered following a robbery. Afterwards the young crowd marched to Stalex, chanting for peace, where children and youth presented store employees and owners with handmade cards and expressed their thankfulness for the role of Stalex within the community.
Ramos summarized the success of the day in incorporating volunteers both urban and suburban, young and old, and from a variety of organizations together in community reflection and recognition: "It doesn't matter where you come from or who you are. It's about appreciating the neighborhood by being together."
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The Being Thankful for My Community Day is a non-traditional park activity sponsored by the Friends of Elmhurst Street Park including The Boston Project Ministries, the Codman Square Neighborhood Development Corporation, the Codman Square Health Center, the Dorchester Environmental Health Coalition, and the Trust for Public Land.
For more information, please contact:
Katie Rice, Director of Neighborhood Youth Ministries at The Boston Project
(w) 617.929.0925 |
| www.tbpm.org
Full-size, high resolution photos available upon request.
