“Our mission is to strive and help youths become change makers by setting an example to them while building a more inclusive community where everyone can achieve their goals.”
Joey Huang, co-chair of EmpowerU – a new student organization that focuses on inclusivity and sustainability in the community – wanted to express their organization’s mission by rebuilding a wooden bench using refurbished furniture and abandoned wooden pallets with her team members.
She told the Richmond News that the bench, called the TogetherBench, is the Burnett secondary students’ first project to reach out to Richmond residents, especially youths, to give a sense of support to community members.
Joshua Evangelista, the other co-chair, said the bench acts as a way to get youths to follow their passions.
“It is to empower people to get out there to achieve their passions and to take initiative to create projects like what we are doing,” said Evangelista.
The quotes “inclusivity means people from all walks of life” and “inclusivity is when a space is open and welcoming” are painted on the back of the bench, emphasizing their goal.
“This bench is a tangible representation of the message we are trying to put out, but we also have (other) aspects that ties it all together to bring the members of the community together,” said Huang.
The plan for the bench is to be placed in multiple areas of the city along with a diary where anonymous messages and stories can be written in.
Huang hopes that with the diary being with the bench, it can represent an “unfinished story of diversity and inclusiveness … and people can add on to the stories of the community with their own.”
The bench is currently showcased at the Burnett’s school library, but will be making its way to Thompson Community Centre soon.
