Youth Cheer Joyce Davidson as a Neighborhood Champion
This week I was one of five to receive the Neighborhood Champion Award. YNDC accepted nominations for the award for people who worked to improve the City of Youngstown’s neighborhoods. Each awardee receive $1,000 for a project of their choice.
Two of the participants in Know Your Neighbor’s project “Cordova Community Garden for Wildlife”, and their little sister were present to help celebrate as I was named a Neighborhood Champion.
A Youth Greening grant funded through the University of Michigan, stressed positive youth development: confidence,character connection and caring, and concern.We focused on the importance of pollinators and the dilemma of the Monarch butterfly whose numbers have drastically decreased due to loss of their habitats. This summer a small garden was added to stress the importance of pollinators in the food chain. The kids used notebooks to note their observances of birds, bees, butterflies and other insects. Plus, two dogs, Jax and Joulie, always drew their attention during their regular visits.
Just recently, several Monarch butterflies surrounded the butterfly bushes at our latest project. The kids weren’t there, but I was excited to see them fluttering about. I wanted to snap a picture of one with its wings open, but maybe the next time.
Meanwhile, like the amazing Monarch, we continue to work to “Do a little good in our neighborhood.”
Throughout the summer, we focused on the importance of pollinators within our food chain and kept watch to see which butterfly would visit us. Our kids had the Monarch butterfly in mind for last year’s habitat. We want to help the marvelous Monarch which migrates to Mexico to hibernate. All summer we kept an eye out for the amazing Monarch butterfly that migrates to Mexico to hibernate.