Mount Pleasant Youth Council

MOUNT PLEASANT, SOUTH CAROLINA MOUNT PLEASANT YOUTH COUNCIL Thursday, April 15, 2021 5:00 PM Mount Pleasant Municipal Complex Council Chambers 100 Ann Edwards Lane, Mount Pleasant, SC 29464 Minutes Ms. Massenet called the meeting to order at 5:10 p.m. Youth Council Members Eliza Taylor, Isabel Raykova, Abby Sullivan, Isabelle Turner, Chad Weis and Cally DeMoura were all present. Myles Chisolm and McClain Stocklosa were both absent. 1. Public Comments There were no public comments. 2. Approval of the minutes from the March 25, 2021 meeting Ms. Massenet moved to approve the minutes, seconded by Ms. DeMoura. All present voted in favor. 3. Update and continued discussion regarding the Cultural Fair May 22 in conjunction with the Sweetgrass Half Marathon. Ms. Sims stated the event would be in the morning. The runners would start the race and while the spectators are waiting for them to finish, they can walk around and enjoy the Cultural Fair, with the runners joining them after they cross the finish line and waiting for the awards ceremony. The event will be open to the public as well. Ms. Sims said she and Ms. Harvey had met and put together a spreadsheet with a list of tasks to be accomplished to make the event a success and Ms. Sims reviewed it with the Youth Council Members. Ms. Sims stated Town staff had updated the applications for potential participants. She suggested limiting the number of food trucks to three so that it would be profitable for them. Ms. Sims stated the Port and Seafarers Society would have raffle tickets for purchase with the prize being a golf cart, and volunteers would be needed to sell the tickets.  Discussion was held regarding potential participants in the Cultural Fair such as Masters Martial Arts, a Chinese dance troop, an Irish dance studio, an African drum and dance troop, and the Greek Orthodox Church which has a dance troop. Youth Council Members will provide Ms. Sims with contact information for the various entities. Ms. Turner suggested Gorditas and Page’s food trucks and Ms. Sims stated Brunch Holiday serves English food. Ms. Sims asked if there were any suggestions on exhibitors. Ms. Massenet said perhaps the performers that are participating would also want to set up a booth to promote their organizations. Ms. DeMoura suggested having sweetgrass basket makers participate. Ms. Sims suggested putting out an open application call on social media and pushing it out to the schools. Ms. Turner suggested the Cultural Food Club could have a booth. Ms. DeMoura suggested the Youth Council also have a booth. 4. Discussion and possible action regarding miscellaneous volunteer service projects Ms. Sims stated there is an Earth Day Clean-up on Saturday, April 17 from nine to 12:00 p.m. at the Memorial Waterfront Park. She asked Ms. Turner to please put the event on social media.  Ms. Sims stated the next event is The Art of Discovery for which the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is asking for volunteers to set up and break down the exhibit. The dates would be May 27 and June 13 at the Circular Congregational Church. Ms. Massenet moved to add this as a volunteer project, seconded by Ms. Turner. All present voted in favor. Ms. Sims stated NAMI is looking for art submissions and asked the Youth Council to pass along that information in the schools as it is for people grades six through twelve. She said they are also looking for an artist to design the organization mascot which is a sea turtle. Ms. Sims said Kendra Scott Jewelry will be joining NAMI for a fundraiser on May 8 and 20% of all sales will be donated to NAMI Charleston. Ms. Sims stated on May 22 there will be a mental health event in Forest Park in West Ashley, and she suggested to NAMI that she thought the Youth Council may be interested in hosting an event like this in Mount Pleasant. The Youth Council members concurred that they would be interested in pursuing a similar event in the future. 5. Updates regarding other priority projects Ms. Sims stated Youth Council had participated in an oyster bed renourishment and there is a trash pick-up this weekend. She asked  if there was a desire to schedule another trash-pick up. The consensus was that with the Cultural Fair coming up quickly, they would focus on that event. Ms. Sims stated the Mount Pleasant Chamber of Commerce reached out and they have a $4,000 scholarship available. It is called the Joe Brinson Scholarship, is for Mount Pleasant residents and would be paid directly to the recipient’s college or program. Ms. Sims said she wanted to make everyone aware of it, as there have not been many applications received. She said if anyone was interested in applying, the deadline is May 4, and it is a simple application process. The information can be found at www.mountpleasantchamber.org. Ms. Sims said one of the things the Youth Council members had mentioned in an earlier meeting was accessibility for students to attend college or trade schools, and she asked if they thought there would be a benefit to having a list of scholarships that are currently accepting applications and publish it on social media. Ms. Turner said she thought it would be good to compile a list. Ms. Sims asked if a couple of members would take the lead on this and send the list to Ms. Turner to post on social media. 6. Adjourn There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 5:42 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Christine Barrett Clerk of Council April 15, 2021