Taste of Lethbridge raises over $55,000 for 5th on 5th Youth Services

“Every year, we really strive to bring this event to the community and try to make it better. It’s a learning process,” he told Lethbridge News Now.

“We have some amazing food and beverage vendors that are so gracious in what they offer for us, because they do all that as a donation to us…it’s a really nice opportunity for us to showcase the relationships that we have in the community and how these different businesses support 5^th on 5^th.”

Brown noted the event, which is a part of the Investing in Youth campaign, was able to raise just over $55,000. The funds will go towards off-setting the costs of the organization’s programs.

“We really try to ensure our programs are free for youth,” he said.

“We realize that we get to work with young people that are maybe in different circumstances in life and they need an extra helping hand to get on the stepping stones to move forward in their lives.”

Brown added that they own the building in which they’re based out of in downtown Lethbridge, so funds raised from different initiatives will also go towards renovations at their facility.

FUTURE EVENTS

This was the Taste of Lethbridge and Investing in Youth campaign’s 23^rd year, and Brown said the goal is to eventually have three fundraising events per year – one for the spring, summer and fall/winter.

The Investing in Youth campaign is where 5^th on 5^th solicit donations from the community, and as a wrap-up, they invite donors to Taste of Lethbridge. However, due to some licensing changes, the event has opened to the public.

The Taste of Lethbridge event took place on May 4 at Exhibition Park (Lethbridge News Now)

“We’re in a new era of policy, so we want to make sure that we are bringing in new people to experience what 5^th on 5^th does and provide a really cool event that’s unique and different than what’s already being done out there,” Brown explained.

He also gave kudos to all the local businesses that help with their projects.

“We wouldn’t be able to do this without the relationships that we have. Lethbridge is a relationship community and it really shows when you’ve spent time as an organization building those relationships for the long term so we can constantly be working to better our community and help people that maybe need a little extra helping hand.”

WHAT EXACTLY IS 5^TH ON 5^TH?

In short, 5^th on 5^th Youth Services offers employment services and skills training for people ages 15 to 30 to help youth get into the workforce. Brown said they have a variety of programs and have been active in the community since 1994.

“We have a classroom-based program where we work with youth over a six-week period where they do employment skills, interviewing, job skills, resume writing, all that kind of stuff that will help somebody have an edge into getting a job,” he said.

“This program is to help them build confidence and know what’s going to bring their resume to the top of the pile, score them an interview and then how you really project yourself in a positive way so that an employer is interested in hiring you.”

He said attached to that in-class course, youth can take advantage of a work-experience program, which has benefits for youth and local businesses.

“We’re able to do a subsidized work-experience contract, which helps employers off-set the cost of hiring a new young person. We can do up to a 12-week work experience. It’s a nice way to bring some economic gain for employers but it also creates that foot in the door for our youth.”

Other opportunities include teaming up with local schools for the Direct Work Experience program. 5^th on 5^th also works alongside the RAP (Registered Apprenticeship Program) to get youth into the trades.

Youth learn about different trade skills and can then transition into a work experience program.

The Reach-Up program assists people with self-disclosed disabilities obtain and retain employment.

“We recognize that people have different barriers to employment, and sometimes those barriers can really hinder a person’s opportunity to have a meaningful job that is good for them and the employer,” Brown said, noting it’s similar to the classroom-based program, but on a one-on-one learning basis.

“It gives an employer an opportunity to hire somebody that might have different barriers with an understanding of the support that we can offer to ensure that it’s a successful work experience for both the participant and the employer as well.”

Brown said every once and a while; resume workshops are offered to the public. He said funding from an event like the Taste of Lethbridge will help support those workshops.

“When you’re an employer and you see a hundred resumes come across your desk, you only give a small fraction of your time to each resume, so what’s going to help that resume come to the top of the pile? That’s what those resume workshops can offer.”

He added that he has a few ideas for future projects, which could create volunteer opportunities for anyone interested in helping.

“Unfortunately, because of the way that our programs operate, we don’t do a lot of volunteering in-house, but if one of the projects I’m working on comes to fruition, then there will be lots of opportunities for volunteers to participate,” he explained.

“Our board of directors is all volunteers that participate with us, so if somebody is ever looking to get involved more in the community and provide some of their skills or their perspectives at a board level, boards are always recruiting. Right now, we’ve got a full board but probably in the next year, we’ll see a turnover of a couple of individuals, so that might be something that somebody might be interested in.”

EDUCATION PROGRAMS

Brown said in addition to the work experience and skills programs, 5^th on 5^th operates two education programs and projects.

The Coalitions Creating Equity is a provincially-coordinated program that targets combatting racism in the community, focusing on human rights issues, hate crimes and discrimination.

Staff work in conjunction with current community coalitions to support the work they’re doing.

“Whether that means an investment of time or maybe there’s support with access to grants. We’re one of five sites across Alberta in that (project), and we’re very fortunate to be able to offer that project. It works quite closely with the City and other coalitions in this community,” Brown said.

“A lot of times in the work of equity, it’s people that believe in that work and they do it on the corner of their desk, so this allows for a paid position to support that work in a more effective way, (and) the City has a consultant as well.”

There is also a privately-funded program focused on getting youth to vote.

The Get Out and Vote Project informs youth in a non-partisan manner, so they’re able to head to the polls during an election and have their voice heard.

For the recent provincial election, Brown said they provided pamphlets and interviews with candidates outside of local forums (“because people who go to forums are already engaged,” he said), to teach them about the democratic process.

“It was nice to see that in the provincial election that almost 70 percent of people turned out to vote and that’s very different from previous elections.”

Brown said that 5^th on 5^th will keep the Get Out and Vote Project going for October’s federal election.

“We’re really fortunate for the partnerships that we have in this community and the support that we’ve gained from the community to make sure that we can still offer these services to young people in Lethbridge and surrounding areas.”

by Justin Goulet

Taste of Lethbridge raises over $55,000 for 5th on 5th Youth Services

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