Group seeks volunteers, activity ideas

A Stopping the Violence celebration is set for 6 p.m. Jan. 13 at New Canaan Church.
By SEAN BARRON
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
YOUNGSTOWN -- If you're looking to give something back to the community or for a place to volunteer, Patricia Owens would like to hear from you.
Owens, president of a community outreach organization called Stopping the Violence, said the group is looking for participants as well as ideas for events to encourage musical and other forms of creativity while steering people from violence and helping victims.
The nonprofit Stopping the Violence group was formed in 2005 partly in response to an upsurge in killings and other violent crimes in Youngstown, Owens said. Among its main goals are focusing on area youths to increase the awareness of nonviolence and working collaboratively to build and maintain self-esteem and positive attitudes, organizers say.
To those ends, STV members and others got together earlier this year to record a compact disc with a song denouncing violence and pointing out its effects on family and the community.
The project, which is dedicated to those who lost loved ones to violence, should be distributed within the next few months; plans also are under way to make a video to include material from the CD, and the public is encouraged to participate in it, Owens said. No date has been set for that project, she continued.
"We want to give someone something else to think about and perhaps make better decisions," Owens said, adding that STV also hopes to provide employment opportunities that could include contracts in the music industry.
Many seek purpose
Keith Logan, a Youngstown State University graduate student who produced the music on the CD, said he's talked to high school students about peaceful ways to handle frustration and anger. Many students want to use their creativity and channel their frustrations in positive ways but complain about too few opportunities to do both, he noted.
"Having no constructive outlets while young often leads to destructive ways when older," said Logan, also known as "2 Fly."
The group will be participating in a Martin Luther King Jr. Stopping the Violence celebration set for 6 p.m. Jan. 13 at New Canaan Church, 907 Catalina Ave., Youngstown. The free event, put on by Akron-based "Gospel Express TV and Road Show," will feature gospel music, mime praise dancers, poets and comedians. Doors open at 5:30 p.m.
For more information, call Gerald Carter, "Gospel Express" vice president of marketing, at (330) 535-1995.
Owens added that STV also is set up to conduct educational seminars, partly to steer youngsters from violence and provide them with positive alternatives. On April 7, STV will team up with Participating and Educating a Child Everywhere, a Douglasville, Ga., organization that focuses on educating youths. The event in Atlanta will feature entertainment and a youth summit to address violence and education in schools, Owens noted.
"If you give a child an education, they'll want to do other things than sell drugs, rob and steal," Owens said.
For more information on the event or to make a donation, call STV at (877) 701-2024.