Advocacy/Community Engagement
Planting Trees and Planting Friendships
Marilyn
Jonathan
Region
Latin America
Program
El Salvador
Project Year
2019
Marilyn and Jonathan are Special Olympics Youth Leaders from El Salvador who will lead a Youth Innovation Project to protect the environment and to promote social inclusion by inviting young people with and without intellectual disabilities and their families to plant trees together.
Marilyn and Jonathan have noticed trees going down and temperatures rising in their area and saw it as an opportunity to bring people together to work towards a common goal and form new friendships.
Over the course of 6 months, Marilyn and Jonathan will engage around 100 young people with and without intellectual disabilities and their families. By inviting families, Marilyn and Jonathan are creating a powerful support system for parents and siblings and creating a community of inclusion. Marilyn and Jonathan are combining the goals of reforestation and Special Olympics to lead a unique project that will help the natural ecosystem and allow for new friendships and networks of support to grow as well.
Over the course of 6 months, Marilyn and Jonathan will engage around 100 young people with and without intellectual disabilities and their families. By inviting families, Marilyn and Jonathan are creating a powerful support system for parents and siblings and creating a community of inclusion. Marilyn and Jonathan are combining the goals of reforestation and Special Olympics to lead a unique project that will help the natural ecosystem and allow for new friendships and networks of support to grow as well.