Bainbridge Youth Leadership completed their first group service project this past weekend, turning over a new community involved leaf in their chapter.

Bainbridge Youth Leadership has been in operation for a number of years, but this past year First Port City Bank joined with the Chamber of Commerce to sponsor the 30 sophomores and juniors nominated to be in the program.

Bainbridge High School and Grace Christian Academy sophomores and juniors are chosen by committee members who see leadership potential and qualities in the students and think this would be beneficial to them. Students who join the program are required to attend one local government meeting and are treated to once a month classes that include topics such as ag/industry, resume/career and personal finance. The students are also taken to the state capitol, where they view government in action.

In previous years, each member was required to complete five hours of community service on their own time, but the Chamber wanted to do something new this year that they could all do as a group. They identified creating care packages for the homeless as a major need in the community and thought it would be great for the students to put together. BPS and the Sheriff’s Department spoke to the leadership group and told them how these products would be put to use and reaffirmed the need for them.

The care packages included things such as beef sticks, ramen noodles, a toothbrush, soap, baby wipes, bandaids, mints, lifesavers and Q-tips.

The Youth Leadership Group plans to help with more service projects. They will be ringing the bell for Salvation Army along with the help of Port City Bank. In addition to that they will be volunteering in smaller groups to help at the soup kitchen.

To follow along and keep up with Bainbridge Youth Leadership’s latest projects you can follow them on Instagram @bainbridgeyouthleadership.