As you are aware, poverty is one of the most pressing issues facing society today. This issue becomes truly agonizing when it involves youth.
A team of York Region’s most motivated students have identified youth homelessness as an issue that they are determined to address. By establishing Markham Getting Together, this team has made it their pact to do whatever they can to inspire change and improvement for those youth at risk. Now, they are aspiring to merge their two greatest passions- social activism and artistry- into an empowering community initiative that will better the lives of those youth who cannot afford to experience these artistic luxuries.
Through initiatives and action plans, Markham Getting Together is bringing positive changes right into our own community in York Region. Starting at the grassroots level, we hope to develop a generation of globally conscious youth that will support and uplift each other.
Initially named Markham’s Got Talent, after their first charity talent show, Markham Getting Together was founded in 2009 by Amy Chai, Annie Liu, John Liu, and Victoria Chok. It is a youth-operated non profit organization that brings the community together while raising support and awareness for their selected charities. The team consists of dedicated high school and post-secondary school volunteers representing schools from across York Region. By drawing support from local Markham youth, we hope to remain primarily youth driven. Over the years our organization has attracted over 100 performers, thousands of supporters, and raised over $12,000 for our selected charities. In addition, because the charities we support are devoted to youth, we proudly regard our initiative as one that is youth-assisting-youth.