Celebrate 20 Years of Liberty For Youth
We have been a registered charity since 2003, helping youth who are affected by poverty, challenging family situations, mental health barriers, struggling in school, and even those needing second chances. Looking back, our founder, Frederick Dryden, started with very humble beginnings, selling chocolates door-to-door, for program sustainability. Youth were also living in his tiny home's basement. Today we celebrate having our Youth Centre and our second location, the 7Rs Ranch!
We have gone from helping 15 youth, with no paid staff, to serving more than 120 youth annually. To this day we have supported over 1,000 youth and given over $138,500 in post-secondary scholarships. Our scholarship program has an 83% success rate with students who are often the first generation in their families to attend college or university! Stay updated with the 20 events listed below, in honour of 2 decades of Liberty For Youth.
DONATE TOWARDS OUR 20-YEAR MILESTONE!
| 1. Ongoing | Point of Contact Campaign. Liberty For Youth will provide one-page request letters to personal contacts and local businesses, to source one-time donations of $20: symbolizing 20 years of service to youth. Donate here. | All Year |
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2. Completed |
Dough-Raiser, read about it here. | February 7th |
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3. Completed
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Speaking engagement & book signing at the COYO 2024 conference. Read about it here. | February 21st and 22nd |
| 4. Completed | Bishop Tonnos Basketball Buy-out Event. Bishop Tonnos Senior Boys basketball team playing a game against Liberty For Youth’s Prodigal Sonz team. Watch here. | March 8th |
| 5. Completed | Evening of Appreciation, read more here. | March 21st |
| 6. Ongoing | Lettie Mzwinila, from Salesforce, will be hosting a staff matching grant for any donations made to Liberty For Youth. | All Year |
| 7. Completed | Hamilton Driving School and Burlington Driving School will be supporting Liberty For Youth with each Beginner Driving Education E-Learning Program attendee. Learn more here. | Month of April |
| 8. Completed | Hamilton All-Star Basketball 2nd Annual Event. The top 24 basketball players in Hamilton gather for a skill showcase, with post-secondary recruiters in attendance. Event Director, Jerome Smith, was mentored by Frederick 20 years ago and is directing event proceeds to Liberty For Youth. | Sat, April 6th |
| 9. Completed | Liberty For Youth was nominated by youth council member & Meridian employee, Jacob, for Meridian’s Annual Community Impact Award. Liberty For Youth won 2nd place and will be receiving $25,000 at Meridian’s Annual General Meeting Community Impact Awards Ceremony. Executive Director, Frederick Dryden will be speaking at the event. | Thu, April 18th |
| 10. Completed | 20 trade industry leaders will partner with 20 youth at-risk, to provide exposure and trades-related mentorship through strategic conversation, as they collectively climb over 20,000 stairs together. Learn more here. | Fri, April 26th |
| 11. Completed | St. Matthew School has been holding a TCBY Frozen Yogurt fundraiser every Friday throughout June. This fundraiser is being held to celebrate Liberty For Youth's 20th Anniversary. They have organized a basketball game for Tuesday, April 30th to close the fundraiser. The teams playing in the basketball game will be a combination of St. Matthew School's students and teachers, along with Liberty For Youth's Prodigal Sonz | Tue, April 30th |
| 12. Completed | Book signing/speaking engagement at Ontario Association for Counselling and Attendance Services’ 70th Anniversary Annual Conference - Blue Mountain, Collingwood, ON. Learn more here. | May 23rd |
| 13. Completed | Liberty For Youth is hosting our 1st Annual Golf Tournament. The 18-hole scramble-style tournament will be at the local Chedoke Golf Course. | May 24th |
| 14. Completed | The Canning family is hosting a fundraising Golf event in memory of Darin Canning. All proceeds from this auction will be donated to Liberty For Youth. | July 13th |
| 15. Completed | Prophix’s corporate partners will gather with youth at-risk, for their mid-year kickoff/sports day event. | July 26th |
| 16. Completed | Hamilton Police Association’s Annual Charity Tournament will be supporting Liberty For Youth as a partner recipient with proceeds going towards the charity. | August 8th |
| 17. Completed | WAMBO (Wallaceburg Antique Motor and Boat Outing) is one of Canada's largest transportation shows. The show features Antique Boats, Antique, Classic & Specialty Cars, Fire Trucks, & Motorcycles. speaking engagement in Chatham, ON. Liberty For Youth will be joining for the Sunday Church Service as Frederick Dryden, along with 3 other youth share their powerful testimonies. |
August 11th |
| 18. | In November, Mountain Tire will donate $1 per winter tire purchase and/or change to Liberty For Youth. | Month of November |
| 19. | Liberty For Youth will be joining the Hamilton Marathon - ROAD 2 HOPE. | November 2nd |
| 20. | A Google employee will be hosting a Google staff matching grant for any donations made to Liberty For Youth. | Nov 30th-Dec 13th |