Young people from Youth Options Unlimited (YOU) Boston will join volunteers this coming Sunday, November 23, to prepare 250 free Thanksgiving meals for older adults in Dorchester during the Unity Sports and Cultural Association's Annual Senior Citizens Thanksgiving Luncheon. The participants from YOU Boston, a workforce development program that provides enriching opportunities for court-involved and gang-affiliated young adults, are taking the initiative to serve their community and be positive role models for their peers. YOU Boston is a division of the City of Boston's Office of Jobs and Community Services, both of which are supported by the Boston Redevelopment Authority.

Members of the Unity Sports and Cultural Association and officers from the Boston Police Department's District B-3 community policing division will work alongside the youth to serve meals to guests.

The early holiday celebration is a chance to recognize young adults that are working to overcome their troubled pasts by taking a leading role in building community through meaningful service-learning projects. The YOU Boston initiative is supported by a $1.5 million U.S. Department of Labor Training and Service Learning Grant that began in 2012 and runs through the end of the year.

Through events and service projects such as the luncheon, YOU Boston and its partners hope to instill a sense of community responsibility in the youth. The initiatives aim to enhance their learning experience, teach leadership skills, and encourage lifelong civic engagement so that they are more likely to invest positively in their communities.