Editor’s note: The following is a news release from the City of Battle Creek.
BATTLE CREEK, Mich. — The city’s Youth Advisory Board is looking to fill three additional vacancies for the coming year.
With an initial application period complete, the YAB will take additional membership applications until May 11.
The YAB will interview and select candidates on May 12 and all new and renewed members will be recognized at the May 19 City Commission meeting.
The group — ages 14 to 20 — is empowered to set its own agenda, addressing and acting on issues of its own choosing related to the youth voice and making Battle Creek a better place for young people. The group’s stated purpose is “to create a city where the youth and elder generations will come together to share a friendly environment and formulate solutions to the everyday problems facing Battle Creek, together and with respect to different ideas.”
The YAB meets at 2 p.m. on the fourth Sunday each month, typically not for longer than two hours at each meeting, with at least one community volunteer event per month and subcommittee meetings as needed. YAB members are encouraged to attend City Commission and other community meetings to let their voices be heard on the various issues up for discussion.
The group’s commitment to volunteerism has resulted in more than 25 hours total spent volunteering at the Binder Park ZooBoo last October, bell ringing for The Salvation Army in December, creating valentines for veterans in February and much more.
The YAB has a social media presence on Twitter (@YABofBC), Instagram (@YABofBC) and Facebook (Youth Advisory Board of Battle Creek), as well as an email address (yabbcmi@gmail.com).
City Commissioners Lynn Ward Gray and Andy Helmboldt serve as liaisons to the board in an advisory role.
Applications are due Monday, May 11, by 5 p.m. to the City Manager’s Office, Room 206 at City Hall, 10 N. Division St. The application form is available online at www.battlecreekmi.gov/Assets/_assets/Boards+and+Committees+Archives/Board+and+Commission+Application.pdf.