On Oct. 12, the Carmel Mayor’s Youth Council (CMYC) will host the High School Fall Fest in downtown Carmel on the lawn in front of the Carmel City Hall, according to sponsor Jane Reiman. The proceeds from the event will benefit the Hamilton County Humane Society.

“In addition to fundraising (for the Humane Society), we are excited to give Carmel clubs an opportunity to promote themselves and the unique talents they have,” Matt Klineman, CMYC vice president and junior, said. “At a school this size it can sometimes be a bit difficult to make yourselves heard.”

At Fall Fest, Klineman said there will be live music from high school bands, dogs up for adoption from the Humane Society, and food from the Indianapolis food truck Gobble, Gobble, along with clubs from CHS providing activities for students and their families

Klineman said the members take up tasks very well, and because of their worth ethic, the CMYC has multiple goals for this year regarding activities and growth with the council. “We want to get the city of Carmel’s students involved in the community by providing fun events for the youth of Carmel, by the youth of Carmel,” he said.

“We think Carmel is a really great place with a ton of exciting opportunities and we want everyone in Carmel to be able to experience that. We also want to teach our members about government. We like members to attend City Hall meetings and listen to speakers that we bring in so that they can learn about the civic process and become informed citizens.”

CMYC, according to Reiman, is entirely youth directed and driven, and she is mostly just a bystander.

“My role is to be a helper when called on. (The members of CMYC) conduct their own meetings and I observe only,” she said via email. “Usually it would take adult groups a year to organize such a four hour event, but the CMYC began discussing this event in early September.”

Klineman said he hopes that Fall Fest is just the beginning of the success for CMYC, and said one of his personal goals this year is to continue to expand CMYC.

“Since (CMYC) is relatively new, we are open to all kinds of new ideas, and we really want to find what works for us and how we can best help Carmel students and the community,” he said. “I hope that sometime in the near future all Carmel residents will know the CMYC as an organization that is making a difference in our schools and our community. We want to engage the community with different service projects, some planned by us and some where we just help out.”

While the youth do most of the work, Reiman said she greatly enjoys being a part of CMYC and that the youth prove things to her with every meeting. “The energy, organizational abilities, visionary ideas completed, team work, fun and enthusiasm really amaze me,” she said. “It gives me confidence that our future is in good hands with the youth of today.”