2025: Civil Liberties and Rights
2025 was a very exciting year for Young Governors! It was the Young Governors’ 14th year and featured the largest cohort of 20 members! In 2025, Young Governors hosted 2 fundraisers, raising over $2700 to focus on our community issue: Civil Rights and Liberties. At our fundraisers, we sold an assortment of food ranging from pani puri, Oreo truffles, mango cream pie, and lemon bars. In addition, our community organizers showcased their creativity by selling homemade flowers, beaded bracelets, and crochet hearts!
We used our profits to support Civil Rights and Liberties by hosting three community events over the summer: “Ice Cream Rights,” “MAP,” and “Share Your Culture.” Each event had its own unique purpose, yet they all shared one important and meaningful goal: unifying the community. We strived to bring the community together through education on immigration and the celebration of our rich diversity in cultures, ethnicities, and races.
7/19 ICE CREAM RIGHTS EVENT: The Ice Cream Rights event, also known as “Know Your Rights Ice Cream” was hosted to educate the community of Elmhurst on their rights. At the event, YG and volunteers worked tirelessly to hand out free ice cream while educating their community about amendment rights. In light of the current ICE situation, Young Governors provided a safe space to forge meaningful conversations on immigration and immigrant rights. Finally, we want to proudly thank Michael Carlier for presenting on ICE Awareness and to the community for supporting!
8/1 MAP EVENT: The MAP event focused on learning more about the community of Elmhurst. Visitors were greeted at the Old St. James Church with a beautifully drawn version of Elmhurst! The event included key guest speakers, raffles, trivia, and a variety of food and drinks! Winners of the raffles and trivia were able to take home the following gifts: stuffed animals, crochet kits, or other fun games!
8/8 SHARE YOUR CULTURE EVENT: The Share Your Culture event focused on celebrating and appreciating the diversity within Elmhurst. The event was filled with amazing food from all over the world! Highlight dishes include egg noodles and fried rice from China, flautas from Mexico, and basmati pulao from Bangladesh and India. Aside from the amazing, flavorful dishes, we also had amazing performances, including singing, dancing, and playing instruments! Finally, a heartfelt thank you to Jonathan Hernandez from Patacon Pisao for courageously sharing his inspiring journey as an immigrant, and to all our incredible volunteers, performers, and guest speakers whose passion and dedication brought this day to life.
LEADERSHIP
Shoshi H
Emily N
Evelyn N
Rubina C R
Brady W
MEMBERS
Emeline
Kaniz A
Angela C
Whitney C
Anson C
Naome J
Kayleenn N
Sharon N
Leo
Kashik P
Melannie P
Jacob R
Muadh S
Violet S
Ethan W
