YAC

Youth Advisory Council

The Youth Advisory Committee was established in 2002 as an initiative from the Thomas Sill Foundation to encourage youth philanthropy and volunteerism.  The Thomas Sill Foundation contributed $2,500 for 3 years $1,000 for operations and $2,500 for grants.  The BPCF had to agree to continue this initiative for an additional 3 years.  The YAC distributed their first grants in 2003.  The BPCF Board decided that this initiative was a very worthwhile commitment and continued their commitment of $2,500 a year since 2005.

The Beautiful Plains Credit Union has donated $1,000 to the Youth Advisory Committee for operations from 2009 – 2020.

The vision of the Foundations both Thomas Sill and the BPCF was that the youth involved in YAC would develop the following skills:

1. Develop a good understanding of charitable organizations in the community and their needs through site visitations and interviews
2. Develop evaluation and critical thinking skills
3. Foster an interest in volunteerism and philanthropy
4. Develop team building skills
5. Ability to listen to individual opinions and come to a consensus through discussion
6. Fundraising and marketing skills – raffle at Christmas with Funds going to Salvation Army to support Christmas Cheer

The YAC is a nation-wide initiative to which many Community Foundations in Canada provide funding.  The Youth Advisory Committee of NACI runs from September – June.

The YAC program would not be possible without teacher supervisors of Mike Adams and Dawn Birch.

In 2018, with a  generous donation a scholarship was established a to be distributed to a member of the Youth Advisory Committee that has been part of the committee for 2 years.