Key’s Community Charities

 

By Dennis Hopps

 

Children and youth today are faced with choices that in many cases will affect how they will live the remainder of their lives. A special group of individuals living throughout Monroe County are working together to provide local children and youth with the motivation, skills and resources to assist them toward making the best choices.

 

 

KTBTC is a nonprofit charitable organization. It is funded in part by grant money received from the Monroe County Commission and the Key West Police Department. At the beginning of each school year KTBTC empowers local youth to make the right choices by encouraging them to lead by example and to give back. Monroe County High school students, from a wide variety of socio-economic backgrounds, participate in countless activities that benefit both their own lives and the community where they live.

 

 

KTBTC Youth Leadership Clubs volunteer their time by: working with elementary school students to improve their reading skills and help make reading fun; mentoring high school freshman students as part of their high school transition team initiatives; setting an example for younger youth by promoting youth leadership at local Children’s Day events held throughout the year; joining with other non-profit organizations to assist with their fundraising events that benefit all of Monroe County; spreading the word on high school campuses to promote healthy choices and a drug and alcohol free lifestyle; serving meals to struggling seniors; and helping with graffiti clean-up throughout the County.

 

 

These activities have been widely recognized and acknowledged throughout Monroe County by both past and present participants along with community leaders. At a recent weekly lunch-hour Youth Leadership Club meeting, present participants when asked of their experiences, spoke openly of being “more successful academically, socially and their all-around lifestyles”. Passionately, one student spoke, “we gain an understanding of how important it is to give back”.

 

 

Key West’s Elena Spottswood was recently honored as volunteer of the year for KTBTC at the Community Foundation of the Florida Keys annual Unsung Heroes luncheon held on January 31.

 

 

KTBTC is all about supporting local youth in developing their full potential. The Key West Police Department has been working hand-in-hand with KTBTC to provide mentoring services on school property to at-risk students at Key West High School. Twenty-three KWPD officers provide mentorship to children who need guidance and role models. Donald Lee, Chief of Police, adds, “By working with Keys To Be The Change, our department is working to help these kids find a positive direction for their lives and grow toward becoming solid members of this community”.

 

 

KTBTC’s Farm to School Program is unique to Monroe County. Students at all grade levels meet weekly to plant, water, weed and learn about growing their own food for sustainability purposes as well as to develop healthy eating habits. The Program integrates math and science concepts which include growth areas and square footage by plant type, measuring plant growth, calculating time needs for harvesting and learning what nature, positively and negatively, can do to the process.

 

 

Self-esteem, self-worth and self-confidence are critical for youth to make healthy choices. Participating in KTBTC activities provides these youth leaders the opportunity to attend a Youth Conference, PeaceJam, organized by 13 inspiring Nobel Peace Laureates. In April of this year sophomore high school students from Coral Shores (10 students), Marathon (10 students) and Key West (20 students) will take the long bus ride to Tallahassee to participate in an inspiring weekend of educational workshops and seminars. The participating Nobel Peace Laureates, including The Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu, are directly involved in developing the curriculum and the program itself. The students themselves are responsible for raising a portion of the required financing through community fundraising.

 

 

KTBTC is changing lives. It is an organization worthy of community support, working to assist and motivate local youth to thrive in school and later life.

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