Joanna Moon, Grade 10 student at St. Theresa of Lisieux CHS in Richmond Hill founded the organization, Youth Here for Tomorrow, last summer as a way to connect with, and help others during the Covid-19 pandemic.
She was inspired to take action after recognizing the many difficulties that the pandemic created, from social isolation to the need for more masks for those people who are most at risk. Youth Here for Tomorrow has since collected over 800 handmade masks and sent them to hospitals and the Food Bank of York Region.
The organization’s most recent project, Happy Holiday Notes coordinated the sending of short, encouraging messages of hope and well wishes from community members to healthcare workers, patients, people using shelters and the elderly. Over 200 notes were sent over the holidays to patients and healthcare workers and approximately 50 messages to different shelters. Visit the Youth Here for Tomorrow website to learn more about these projects or to find out how you can get involved.