Apollo High School senior Sam Brewer is passionate about politics and government. He’s fascinated by the inner workings of government and its effect on communities. He recently attended a demonstration and felt compelled to become active in his community. A family friend told him about the Young People’s Collective (YPC), a teen-led political action group founded by Tech High School students in 2018. He was intrigued, and after attending his first meeting, he was hooked.
The Young People’s Collective started as a group of teens who wanted to be involved with the political process. They helped with door knocking, voter and elected official calling, and other miscellaneous campaign needs. After the 2018 election, students from both Apollo and Tech wanted to continue their community influence. The camaraderie they shared was positive and energetic, so over time the group morphed its focus more toward community improvement. Now they are “a group of community-minded young people who take part in and organize local mutual aid efforts.”
“We loved the political aspect of it,” shares Brewer, “but we didn’t want it to be all we do. So, we branched out more. We do everything from protests, calling elected officials, all the way to cleaning up parks and making tie blankets for the homeless. It’s whatever the people in the group want to do to make the community a better place or [to] give voice to young people.”
One of their first projects was a river clean-up down at Riverside Park. Now, every other weekend, weather permitting, YPC can be spotted at local St. Cloud parks doing clean-up. They recently partnered with Sweet Potato Comfort Pie delivering pies to families who were impacted by gun violence. They also plan on doing a holiday tie-blanket drive in the near future.
For these students, it’s not just about the “doing,” it’s also about the conversations and connections as well. They’ve met with the St. Cloud Police Department, Mayor Kleis and UniteCloud.
“It’s really about building those connections and finding people you want to help,” says Brewer.
The group has reached out to neighboring high schools as well and is proud to boast they’ve nearly doubled in numbers. The group has teens from Sartell, Sauk Rapids and St. John’s Prep now, too.
“It’s really great to see how we’ve grown as a community,” says Brewer. “We want to see change.”
Members discover their own passions along the way and bring them to the group. YPC is always looking for non-profit organizations, companies or any local groups to partner with to make St. Cloud a better place.
“I just love the YPC,” says Brewer. “It’s been so great for me to see how I’ve changed and how other people have changed. Now, I know I want to go into a career of politics and make sure things are better in the world.”
When Brewer graduates, he’ll rely on the next generation of YPC students to carry the torch. He knows he’s paved the way for future teens to make their impact. He also knows the renewed sense of responsibility he feels towards his community will carry to wherever his future leads him.
“Looking towards the future, I would personally like to see it take off – have more schools get involved,” says Brewer. “If you want to make a difference, why don’t you do something about it?”
Organizations looking to connect with YPC should contact the organization through their Facebook or Instagram accounts. The group is 20 members strong and encourages other teens to join.
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