St. Clair College students lead fundraiser for at-risk youth summer program

Brandon McBride, right, stands alongside St. Clair College event management students at a fundraiser for the McBride Youth United Association. Pictured on Apr. 20, 2024. (Bob Bellacicco/CTV News Windsor)

When event management students at St. Clair College were assigned to organize a fundraiser for a non-profit organization, Aulterlee Porte’s group chose to host an event at the Harbour House to help the McBride Youth United Association.

“They prioritize helping kids, whether that’s eliminating poverty within Windsor-Essex, providing mentorships and this fundraiser is specifically to help raise funds for their summer recreation program,” Porte said Saturday.

The McBride organization was co-founded by Herman Secondary School gradudate and former Olympian Brandon McBride who represented Canada in the 800-metre in Brazil (2016) and Tokyo (2021).

“We are going to provide recreational programs, sport, arts and crafts to at-risk youth on Tuesdays and Thursday for the entire summer,” said McBride, describing how the fundraiser will help.

“We just want to create a safe space where youth can come and hang out and be exposed to different activities that they normally wouldn’t be exposed to.”

McBride added the number of people reaching out to assist with the program is "a lot more than we can handle" at times.

“Some of our programs, we don’t even advertise on social media because we know we would get an overwhelming number that reach out.”

The McBride Youth United Association has extended its programs to various organizations and their youth as a means of testing them, McBride added.

The purpose is to gather valuable information and data for presentation to potential major funders which can demonstrate the efficacy of their programs over the past few years, showcase their positive impact on youth and outline a comprehensive plan for future endeavours.

"So we can go to a big funder and say, 'Here’s how many youth we think we can impact with X amount of dollars,'" said McBride.