The Carmel Mayor’s Youth Council recently raised money to help the Carmel Fire Department with their annual toy drive. The group raised $1200 for the annual drive, which will benefit the department’s community assistance program that gives toys, clothes and food to local families in need. The program has been around since 1967.

“Helping raise money for the Community Assistance Program has been one of my favorite parts of the school year, especially since so much of what we’d normally be doing has been cancelled this year,” said Matthew Didonna, CMYC member and junior. “It was really nice to give back to the community that way and I’m really excited to get to see the impact we’ve made.”

Aside from that, CMYC has continued to host virtual meetings on Tuesdays and Thursdays twice a month. The meetings will be virtual for the foreseeable future due to COVID-19 restrictions, which is also why other events held by the CMYC have been cancelled.

CMYC sponsor Kelli Prader said, “The meetings are primarily to forge a connection between members, in particular between new members and older members who haven’t gotten the chance to interact in person like we would in a normal year. It really is a shame that we’ve missed out on so much.”