Think about Black Friday and you probably think about mobs of people, lineups at 3am, and people pushing and shoving their way through Wal-Mart.
Now imagine that instead of trying to get a deal on the trendiest toy, those people were trying to donate to local charities.
This is the BYTE dream. And though it’s unlikely to happen, we think everyone should know about Giving Tuesday anyway.
Giving Tuesday is the charitable sector’s response to Black Friday and Cyber Monday. It’s an opportunity to give back to your community.
On Tuesday, December 1st, we’re asking for donations. If you’re just learning about our organization, here’s what BYTE does:
- We deliver fun, engaging workshops to youth aged 13-18 in rural Yukon communities. We engage youth on topics like Leadership, Digital Citizenship, Healthy Minds, and Safe Partying
- We run an annual leadership conference in Whitehorse that attracts participants from almost every community in the Yukon
- We deliver violence prevention programs to young people around the territory
- We run fun events in Whitehorse for young people, like the annual Canada Day Skate competition and the Battle of the Bands
- We run projects that empower the voice of northern youth, like This Is Our Arctic, which shares Arctic youth’s perspectives on climate change
Why is this work important? Youth in rural Yukon communities don’t have the same access to programming as youth in Whitehorse do. We give young people the chance to talk openly about sensitive issues with our team of young role models. We work primarily with First Nations youth to help them develop confidence, leadership skills, and pride in their communities.
Your donation helps us do our work better. Donate to BYTE and you will:
- Help us rent cars and pay for gas to visit youth in remote communities in the Yukon
- Replenish workshop supplies so we can continue to run fun and engaging activities for young people
- Help us keep our office doors open so we can continue to build relationships with the communities and work on engaging programming for youth
- Pay for on-call youth facilitators so young people around the Yukon can have positive role models
- Support our events by helping us recover some of the cost
Any amount is appreciated. A spare $5-$10 will help us purchase new workshop supplies, but signing up monthly donation would make a huge difference in our ability to visit another community and connect with more young people.
All donations are tax-deductible and can be made in person at the BYTE office or online. Mahsi cho, gunalchéesh, and thank you for your support!
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