River Heights Youth Council plans fund raiser with library

By Diana Taylor

March 4, 2004 | The River Heights Youth Council of 17 students met Wednesday night to plan activities for 2004.

The Youth Council has met since 1997, under the direction of River Heights City Council member Debbie Rees. Students on the Youth Council are freshman to seniors in high school.

"The Youth Council is not a structured as it could be but, I feel that as long as we have a good group of students that help out in the community we are accomplishing our goal," said Rees.

Each year in November the students in River Heights hold an election on the same day as the general election. The students elect a mayor and two vice mayors. These students elected will help run the Youth Council for one year. Garrett Smith was the mayor last year.

Smith, a junior at Mountain Crest High School, said, "I think it is nice to have some sort of an influence and make changes. It is also very helpful with my required service hours for school. I love being involved in my community."

The Youth Council is self-supporting, so the students do fund raisers throughout the year in order to support the programs they do.

This month the Youth Council will be participating in a fund raiser in conjunction with the Friends of Library. Friends of the Library will be holding a read-a-thon March 15. The money raised for the event will be used to complete the children’s corner in the Providence/ River Heights Library.

Youth Council members will be reading stories to children as well as assisting them in making bookmarks.

Next month the Youth Council and The Ellen Eccles Ice Arena will be sponsoring a River Heights skate night from 6 to 8 p.m. April 19.The Youth Council will be handing out fliers to the neighbors as well as selling tickets for the event. The skate night will cost $14 per family, up to eight people, and this includes skate rental. The Youth Council will receive $4 from each ticket.

Each summer the Youth Council holds one activity a month for the younger children in the community. This summer they will be hosting a bicycle safety program, a teddy bear picnic and activities in conjunction with Apple Days.

"My brother did Youth Council; that’s how I got interested in it. I like being on the Youth Council because I can’t really complain about things that go wrong because I have a say. It’s been a great way to make friends of all ages and all types of people," said Elisabeth Ellis, a junior at Mountain Crest High School.

The council planned several activities for the remainder of 2004 including, date night baby sitting, an outdoor dance with Providence and Mendon, a trip to Sunshine Terrace and help with the River Heights Christmas tree lighting.

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