This December, MRG Foundation is making $225,000 in grants to 20 grassroots groups across Oregon. These grants span hundreds of miles and include communities of color, immigrant communities, LGBTQ communities, and groups protecting our land, air and water. You can see the full list of December, 2010 grantees here.

This fall, several of the groups we’re funding are led by and organizing young people. Anita Rodgers, MRG program director, commented on the presence of youth leaders in the current slate of grantees. “When we met these young leaders at Presentation Day, grantmakers were just blown away by their analysis, how they think about changing their communities and what they are willing to do to get it done.”

And as one of the group’s organizers explained at our recent Presentation Day: “People say ‘youth are our future,’ but they are really our present.” Here are three snapshots of youth organizing that’s changing the world we’re living in right now:

Voz Hispana Causa Chavista, Woodburn $10,000

How young can you start preparing people to take leadership on the issues that affect their lives? How about starting when they’re in grade school? Voz Hispana’s PCUNcitos project is working with the young children of farmworkers who are involved with PCUN, Oregon’s farmworker union.

The youth, aged eight to thirteen, learn to think critically, to speak out and to prepare to be leaders. Right now, sixteen developing leaders participate in ongoing classes on topics such as immigration, the power of voting, and the history of worker organizing.

The PCUNcitos knock on doors, write and act in educational plays, perform community service, and are in the front of local marches for immigration and workers’ rights. As they get older, the PCUNcitos move through a four-stage process of development, with places for them to take leadership in the project as they gain confidence and experience.

All before they’re even done with middle school. 

Lotus Rising Project, Medford $8,500

Picture this: for “Activities Day” at one Southern Oregon high school, various clubs set up tables so that students could learn more about them. The Gay Straight Alliance, still fairly new, had a table. But few students approached them. Why? A few feet in front of them stood a row of students, arms crossed, staring at the students seated at the table, not saying a word. On that day, at least, there was no direct threat… just silent intimidation.

Lotus Rising creates a safe space for LGBTQ youth to meet for both personal support and leadership development. To break the isolation that drives so many LGBTQ high schoolers to despair and self-harm, they support a network of Gay Straight Alliances in four Southern Oregon schools even though in some cases the school administration is openly hostile to the groups.

One Lotus Rising member, a teenage girl, when banned from putting up fliers about the existence of their school’s Gay Straight Alliance, instead wore a sign around her neck: “Ask me about the Gay Straight Alliance.”

These youth take on leadership roles within Lotus Rising and approach allies and partners with a “compassionate activism” focus meant to bring people together instead of letting prejudice pull them apart. Lotus Rising makes sure that these youth are never left to struggle in isolation. Learn more at www.lotusrisingproject.org.

Camp Odyssey, Portland (Statewide), $8,000

For folks raised in Oregon, this is the summer camp you wish you had gone to when you were a teenager! Camp Odyssey empowers teens from across Oregon to confront racism, oppression and the dynamics of privilege that keep people apart.

The program starts with a week-long summer residential camp, where 60 youth come together from across the state to experience living and working together in a multicultural community.  Each day combines activities and sharing circles on different forms of oppression, including sexism, racism, homophobia and ableism. The week then wraps up with “Taking it Home and Taking Action.”

When the youth return home from the camp, the year-round program kicks in, where youth get training and support for the social justice work in their local community.

Camp Odyssey is returning to action after a decade-long hiatus, powered in part by alumni from previous years. We look forward to seeing what they are able to do when they re-launch this multicultural camp in 2011. Learn more at www.nwcampodyssey.org.

How Does This Organizing Happen?

These particular youth leaders aren’t silenced or defeated by the circumstances they’re in, and they depend on support from others to create change in their communities. Our grants happen because of donations from Oregonians like you, who want to see organizing that gets at the heart of injustice, and want to support leadership from the grassroots. If you haven’t made a gift to support social justice work in communities across Oregon lately, consider giving before the end of the year -- you can give quickly and securely online.

To see the full list of 20 grantees, check out the slate of December, 2010 General Fund grantees.

Photo: leader from Voz Hispana Causa Chavista's PCUNcitos program