Lucy, right, with Anysia Welsh, director of development and marketing for Mecklenburg Ministries.

Last summer I participated in an exciting program called “Building Bridges for Peace” (BBfP). The program brings together Israelis, Palestinians and Americans to try to get beyond stereotypes and seek a common ground. You can read more about my summer here. But BBfP is more than just a summer program—it’s a yearlong commitment. Each of the American participants pledges to create a project in their own home community that echoes the sentiments at the core of the program.

I was already volunteering weekly at Mecklenburg Ministries, a collaboration of over 60 different faith organizations in the Greater Charlotte, N.C., area that sponsors programs to foster a deeper understanding and appreciation for the diversity in our city. I spoke with the executive director of Mecklenburg Ministries about creating a youth council that would emulate much of what Mecklenburg Ministries already does with adults, and she was pleased with the idea. A project was born!

Since returning home, I have assisted Mecklenburg Ministries in getting Charlotte’s Interfaith Youth Council off the ground. It has been both a challenging and rewarding experience to take on a leadership role in a nonprofit organization. I have encountered a range of responsibilities, including helping with grant writing, finding donors and seeking contributions. Thus far, our efforts have yielded success.

We have had several meetings, during which about 20 teens from different races, cultures, religions and socio-economic levels were represented. As a group, we have discussed the mission and vision of our council. These discussions have been very revealing, as we have each been exposed to other people’s day-to-day situations and have been given the unique opportunity to look at things from another person’s perspective. That’s what the Interfaith Youth Council is really all about.

Since we are all passionate people with an interest in creating social change, we plan to be a youth voice for all of Charlotte. We hope to coordinate a variety of activities, such as attending city council meetings to promote cultural and religious awareness in public and private schools and initiating community-based service projects to raise awareness about issues like poverty, homelessness and anti-bullying legislation.

At our most recent meeting, we watched a short documentary that focused on the problems that nine teenagers from Charlotte were confronted with in school, such as discrimination and ignorance. The documentary highlighted the importance of acceptance and appreciation of everyone’s differences. After the viewing, we had a discussion about the times when people stood up for us and the times we stood up for others. As the up-and-coming generation, we need to have a voice. We, as future leaders, need to begin to decide what issues are important to us and come up with a plan of action to share our beliefs and to help the causes that we’re passionate about.

The great part of being in the Interfaith Youth Council is that it takes much of the fear out of sharing my opinion with whomever I desire. If I were ever to state my opinion, I would know that I had the support of 20 other teens who also see the importance of making social change. Being part of a council like this ensures that I will never have to stand alone. 

Lucy Bierer is a high school senior. She’s currently n’siah (president) of her BBYO chapter, Ohavim BBG #418, as well as safranit (sunshine girl) of North Carolina Council. She’s also a member of the JVibe Teen Advisory Board.