Project 351 kicks off day of service with message of hope
BOSTON - With one voice, more than 350 young unsung heroes are on a mission to bring about positive change.
They are all part of Project 351, a nonprofit that seeks to build a movement of youth-led service that transforms communities. On Saturday, 370 eighth-graders - representing every single town and city throughout the Commonwealth - kicked off the 13th Annual Launch and Service Day. This year's theme is "The Embrace," the historic unveiling of a sculpture honoring the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King on Boston Common.
"We really want every one of these young people and every young person to know they are enough and if they want to lead change, everything that they need to create that positive change is already within them," Project 351 Founder and Executive Director Carolyn Casey said. WBZ-TV anchor Lisa Hughes helped kick off the day of service with a leadership panel.
Then, the busy day of giving back got underway, serving 10 nonprofit organizations throughout the city and beyond. At Suffolk Downs, dozens of kids were busy preparing mental health kits with everything from blankets to hand-written cards.
"Doing what we can to be better people and to make the world a little better for everyone who gets one," eighth-grader Lyla Travers said.
Megan Burke was once a volunteer for Project 351, and now, she's one of this year's many Service Heroes. "It gave me the audacity to try and humility to learn," Burke said.
Project 351 wants these young people to embrace hope, unity and love and bring these principles and values to their schools and community and bring about change.
"Many of them go before their school committees and talk about the programs that they're doing with Project 351, and it has a ripple affect," Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents Executive Director Tom Scott said.
Fourteen-year-old Donnell Davis gets it. "I love being part of 351 because I am around peers that realize that world is gonna change, and we have to be the ones to change it. So we are all applying force and we're all doing what we can for the world," Davis said.