Get Loud Arkansas is hosting its second annual Summer Youth Ambassador program. The nonprofit brings together high school and college students from across the state to develop leadership skills while encouraging civic participation throughout the summer. Ambassadors volunteer at community events, create social media campaigns and encourage young people to register and vote.
One of those ambassadors is college student Marcus Garcia. Speaking with Little Rock Public Radio, Garcia says he hopes more young people become involved in their communities.
"I want people my age to know that change happens slowly and that participating in your community over and over again creates change. And that kind of compounds on itself, because when you are participating, you can get your friends and other people to participate too. And over time, that'll create a lot of change. And that's really important. And that's kind of just the end goal."
Jasmine Zandi is the program director for Get Loud Arkansas. She says the ambassadors spend the summer reaching young voters in communities across the state.
"The summer ambassadors for Get Loud Arkansas have been doing a variety of volunteering out in the community, crafting, messaging and recording videos for social media as well to both inform folks, but also kind of bring some light to the topic. A lot of folks have differing opinions about this topic, so they've been really helpful and just general awareness and messaging and speaking to peers."
More information about the program available online at GetLoudArkansas.org.
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