Taking inspiration from those older than her, Violet Barratto Bristow is bringing together a group of teenagers with the goal of bettering her community - and the world.
Baratto, a Grade 12 student at Hillfield Strathallan College in Hamilton, is kick-starting 100 Teens Who Care in Burlington, a group that will see teens in Grades 9-12 donate both their time and money to a new cause four times per year.
“We’ll meet quarterly, and we hope that each member of the group will donate $25, so $100 per year,” Baratto says. “Students who are coming to the meetings get volunteer hours for high school, which is a bonus, and the charities are paid directly.”
A new charity is chosen by group members every quarter. The group decides on which charity to support by sharing information and donating. Representatives from the charities will attend meetings after receiving support to let group members know how their funds were used.
Roles and responsibilities are still being finalized, but for anyone in high school looking to take on a role where they can help their community, 100 Teens Who Care may be the place to do it.
“If someone wants to come out to a meeting, it's a good leadership experience for anyone who wants to be part of the team,” Baratto says. “Even if someone wants a smaller role, there are opportunities to lead.”
Baratto says she runs the division currently, though there are no official titles as of yet. She regularly speaks with both the Oakville and Mississauga branches. She also plans on spearheading the group’s executive team which will take on reaching out to charities, finding new members, designing the website, and spreading awareness.
The group hopes to have its first meeting in early 2024. Teens who want to find out more can visit 100teens.ca or email [email protected].
Baratto, who currently holds the title of Miss Teenage Burlington, knew she was on the right path after the pageant gave her a stage to bring awareness to the things she cares about. She previously started a petition to ensure that a certain minimum amount of farmland be kept in each city across Canada, which currently has about 1,500 signatures.
Baratto is still undecided on which school she wants to attend next year, but knows she wants to head to the U.S. for physics, and ideally astrophysics.
“With an astrophysics degree you could do calculations for space launches, or process data that comes from the International Space Station,” she says. “You could be building the rockets to send to space, doing the programming or designing.”
Volunteering, however, is where Baratto has focused a significant amount of time and energy in her high school career. In Ontario, students must complete 40 hours of volunteer work to graduate. She has accumulated more than 500 hours volunteering with organizations including a hospice centre in Milton and the Glen Eden ski club.
