Youth Migrant Project
Established in 1981, the Youth Migrant Project (YMP) is based out of St. Charles Catholic Parish in the Skagit River Valley in Burlington, Washington. St. Charles runs the tri-parish food bank as well as a lunch program for children of migrant farm workers, which provides food to more than 400 families each week and delivers lunches to more than 100 kids each day. Middle- and high-school students spend a week supporting the food bank in the summer by making deliveries, working in community gardens, and building relationships with the farmworker community.
Agape Service Project
A social ministry of the Archdiocese of Seattle, Agape Service Project encounters the farmworker community of Whatcom County, facilitates week-long middle- and high-school service-immersion, and empowers young adults to be servant leaders. Through service-learning experiences, participants learn about human dignity, issues affecting farmworkers, and how Catholics are called to serve. In 2022, Agape increased access to culturally appropriate foods for an average of 439 families weekly through their seasonal mobile food distribution and food bank. Through the food bank, community support, and time spent with the migrant families, Agape aims to build personal relationships with our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Ignite 2023
IPJC is excited to announce a new collaboration with the Youth Migrant Project and Agape Service Project. In 2019, seven educators from Jesuits West came together to create a summer youth organizing seminar, Ignite. After two years of meeting online and a pause last summer to discern the future of the program, IPJC is honored to take on the program in a new way. In July 2023, we will welcome 80 high school juniors and seniors and 20 adults from 10 Catholic schools from across the West Coast to the Skagit Valley and Whatcom County. During their time here, students will build community, encounter the farmworker reality, learn about the farmworker movement, and develop faith-based community organizing skills to grow in their capacity as social justice leaders in their schools and community. We are humbled to walk with and learn from the farmworker community!
Registration for Ignite will open soon, subscribe to our email list to receive more information: https://ipjc.org/signup-for-our-e-newsletter/