The Greenpoint YMCA just received their largest donation ever and are putting it to amazing good use by creating an environmentally conscience program called Green Team for local youth.
We here at the Greenpoint YMCA just received a gift of $150,000 from Exxon Mobil Corporation to create a program called the “Green Team” designed to foster a greater sense of environmental literacy and a deeper spirit of community service among city’s youth. This is the largest gift in the history of the Greenpoint YMCA.
We will be hosting a Volunteer Clean Up Day to encourage the community to come out and pitch in cleaning up some of our lesser-known green space! On Tuesday, July 20th, from 12pm – 6pm join Greenpoint’s newest environmental advocates – 10 teens from Greenpoint and Williamsburg – in cleaning up Lentol Garden.
The ExxonMobil Green Team program will nurture tomorrow’s future scientists and innovators, teaching New York City teens to be more creative and aware of environmental issues in their own backyard. The Wallerstein Collaborative for Urban Environmental Education at New York University will lead the program’s place-based curriculum, which will connect students’ learning to the places where they live, work and learn. Students will participate in workshops, laboratory sessions and field trips that integrate science, technology, history and art. Environmental professionals, including educators, historians, geologists, engineers and community leaders, will lead the program, exposing participants to a wide range of environmental careers.
Program teens will participate in a range of fun and educational activities, including:
·Working with solar energy consultant Solar One on alternative clean energy sources, including building solar cars and exploring ways to conserve energy in their own homes.
·Conducting water quality tests on the East River, identifying water contaminants with the help of NYU’s water chemistry lab, and posting findings online.
·Visiting Rooftop Farms and applying sustainable techniques to their own project in Lentol Garden, Greenpoint.
·Taking on the role of “tree advocates” in their community, which has lost 1,000 trees in the past.
·Learning to identify street trees and how to care for newly planted trees, and becoming certified in caring for NYC street trees through a workshop with Trees NY.
Remember that donations to the Greenpoint YMCA help OUR local children directly. If you’re interested in making a contribution to the Greenpoint YMCA feel free to do so online here.