Resilient Youth Initiative: community support

Have you ever heard of a joycott? Yes, that's right. A JOYcott. Think of the polar opposite of a boycott. That's a joycott. Instead of not supporting a business or purchasing a product because the business is doing something you don't like, you support them because they are in line with your values. A little positive reinforcement is a good thing!

In Portland, ME, a fun buzzword and the intention to bring a community together were the grounds to sow a great event last weekend. Portland Green Drinks organized the Joycott held at the Public Market House on Congress Street. The event yielded double the usual amount of sales for the involved businesses after they pledged to reinvest 51% of the day's profits into energy efficiency improvements in the space.


Local bluegrass band entertains Joycott participants Photo credit Jason Sandifer/ emilie inc. photography

I asked lead organizer, Sean Sullivan, whether this event brought a significant number of new customers into the venue. "The morning was regulars," he said, "lunchtime was everyone’s excuse to come out, and lots of new folks came through." With fun events like wine tasting and jazz and then beer tasting and bluegrass, there was something for all involved. The Market was festively decorated with balloons and there were tables of activities for children. Community members of all ages came out. Sullivan observed a lot of young couples with children, empty-nester couples and a good showing of 20-somethings. He commented that he felt the event bridged generation gaps and that "a lot of people saw the value in it."

Photo booths are always fun to have at events!
Photo Credit Maine Snapshot Studio


Decorate you own sugar cookie table Photo credit Jason Sandifer/ emilie inc. photography

After coming up with the idea for the joycott, Portland Green Drinks solicited several markets in town. The Green Drinks crew wanted to focus the joycott on a business where people would already purchase products on a week-to-week basis, so they reached out to markets that sold food along with drinks. Nearly a dozen markets were approached and asked what percent of profits they would reinvest if they hosted the joycott. The rules were simple: whoever offered to reinvest the greatest percentage of profits would win the bid and be the first joycott target.

The Public Market House did just that with their 51% pledge. They were a great partner for the Joycott, especially since their mission aligns well with Portland Green Drinks. Their goal is to provide a "community gathering place that celebrates Maine people, food and agricultural traditions while joining the ongoing efforts to revitalize Portland’s downtown, incubating small businesses and involving the international community." They offer a community commercial kitchen in the basement during the summer and commit to buy local.

Post-Joycott, the businesses in the Public Market House have $1,888 to spend on energy efficiency upgrades. Portland Green Drinks is footing the cost for the businesses to get an energy audit to determine how the money will be best spent. Sullivan says the businesses are looking forward to it. "It’s an opportunity for them to create a long term conversation with their customers, while also saving some money on energy bills."

When asked about the impact on the community, Sullivan replied, "the success of the event illustrates that people want to support a business that aligns with their own personal values. When there's an opportunity to contribute to a greater goal, people seize that opportunity. My hope is that it helped people realize that the business and the environment don’t need to be opposing forces. If you have a goal there’s always a way."


A Laughter Party ensues Photo credit Jason Sandifer/ emilie inc. photography

Sullivan says that he is most excited about "continuing to come up with creative ways to leverage the community we’ve built around a common interest in environmental issues. We’ve got this community and the networking day to day, but if we can find a way to direct energy and enthusiasm towards something specific, that’s valuable."

With so many fun ways to generate community support, it will be great to see what the Portland Green Drinks Team comes up with next. Find out about upcoming events on Portland Green Drinks' Facebook page.

Personally, I think this model has great potential for growth and supporting local communities. Congratulations to the Portland Green Drinks and the Public Market House for their success!

Many joyous greetings from us to you for 2011! With the new year comes a flurry of new ideas. The one I'm focusing on right now is an initiative called New England Youth Connect (NEYC). NEYC intends to pull together a diverse group of youth from all over New England to positively contribute to local and regional problem solving. It is an online place where the youth voice can be expressed and shared in a unified manner to strengthen local communities. I intend this to be a model that can be used in other regions of the country and eventually other regions of the globe. Does this sound like a project you're interested in? Any suggestions or learning from your own experience that can help inform this work?

Through my life experience (I'm 24 currently), I have found that youth (people between the ages of 14 - 34) have great passion and ideas for improving the world we live in. Due to having less experience in the constraints and barriers that exist, their ideas are unencumbered, collaborative and creative. I keep hearing in the news and from adults that we need to run things differently. Yet, the people who run this country seem to use the same ideas over and over again (Einstein's definition of insanity) and expect our broken systems to work. Too often it seems like massive funds are being used in a band-aid approach - fixing the symptom, not the root cause. I think it's time for us to employ our creative brain power and ability to create new solutions to make some headway in creating the society we envision.

How do we youth wish to impact our society and country? How can we connect to foster creative dialogue that will help solve local, regional and nationwide problems? How can groups of youth from a diverse variety of backgrounds be supported to share their ideas in a forum that results in these ideas taking root? How can we share our collective voice to move our society to one that creates an environment where all youth (and everyone else!) get their basic needs met (healthy food, a good education, health care, supportive community) and finds their place in the world where their skills and passions intersect?

I aim to first try this in New England and find groups of youth and youth-supportive adults and elders who are interested in these questions and passionate about getting involved. I'm curious to know in which areas youth feel passionate to collaborate.

Do you know a youth or youth group who would be interested in exploring this idea? Know an adult or elder who has youth connections or a passion in supporting the youth?

How do we as the youth of envision our communities? How do we see ourselves acting as a global citizen?