SOMETHING CAN BE DONE ABOUT IT YOUTH CLUB
Beaverton, 17 July 2004
Students in Beaverton, Oregon have launched the “Something Can Be Done About It Youth Club” in honor of the City of Beaverton’s Proclamation declaring July 17 “Something Can Be Done About It Day.”
Inspired by the Volunteer Minister Corps and its traveling 3,000 square foot training tent that has been making its way through Oregon over the last week, 14 year-old Phoebe Mattera and her friends wanted to do something to impact other kids their age who they say are often overlooked. “Kids my age can’t work, drive, stay out after curfew, vote, or go to most movies. They need to know what they can make happen in their lives. That they have the power to do something to help themselves, their families and each other,” said Phoebe, a survivor of Cystic Fibrosis who doctors said would not live beyond age 7. She credits her continued success with a strong personal will, which she gained through studying the Volunteer Minister’s training manual, the Scientology Handbook, and excellent medical care from Dornbecker’s Cystic Fibrosis team.
The girls staged their announcement to coincide with the assembling of more than 140 entrants in this year’s SummerFest parade, drawing the attention of several other youth groups in the area. The girls hope to sign up several dozen young teens from the region to work on projects from organizing dances and social events, to tutoring at the library and holding classes on how to handle bullies.
They were joined by State Senator Ryan Deckert who commended the girls for taking responsibility for doing something to inspire volunteerism and civic engagement among their peers.
The Volunteer Minister Corps is a grassroots movement of people from all walks of life and religious backgrounds, mobilized by the Church of Scientology since 1970 under the motto: Something Can Be Done About It. The traveling tent will be up at SummerFest through the weekend, then depart Oregon for Twin Cities on Monday.
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