The Maywood Chamber of Commerce is committed to supporting programs and efforts that seek to educate, mentor and develop Maywood’s youth.  As evidence of that commitment, the Chamber provides outstanding youth with scholarships for their first year of college.  The Chamber, and it Members also support various youth-centered programs, such as the Maywood Youth Mentoring Program, directed by Barbara Cole. 

The Chamber is proud to have the Maywood Youth Mentoring Program as a Member; and welcomes the opportunity to recognize the Back to School Breakfast session held in September.  The breakfast was designed to help motive and encourage Maywood’s youth as they prepared to return to their classrooms following the long summer break.  The Breakfast was one of many programs Barbara Cole has developed for Maywood’s youth since founding the mentoring program over twenty years ago.  She founding the program knowing the community needed to offer young people alternatives to negative forces that plague disadvantaged areas.  At this year’s Breakfast,  Barbara Cole reminded attendees that they needed to disavow the negative culture that surrounds today’s youth.  A Sign declaring “We Report Violence” was prominently displaced at the gathering to help reinforce the Maywood Youth Mentoring Program’s goal of promoting social responsibility and accountability.

The 2019 Back to School Breakfast was made possible with the generous support of Proviso Community Bank – A Wintrust Community Bank, which is a leading member of the Maywood Chamber of Commerce.  The Saturday morning session featured a delicious buffet prepared by students attending Proviso East High School.  The breakfast session provided an excellent venue for the high school to showcase a series of courses designed to prepare young people for meaningful career opportunities in the culinary and hospitality fields.  Maywood Mayor Edwenna Perkins was on hand to support to the Maywood Youth Mentoring Program and Maywood’s youth.  Various organizations and members of the community involved with youth mentoring in Maywood were also on hand.  Among the many highlights of the event was a raffle that awarded cash and McDonald’s gift cards to multiple winners, selected at random.

While the breakfast offered the community an opportunity to show its support for young people who are determined to make the most of their lives, there was a clear focus on education and empowerment.  Managers of Proviso Community Bank, including Chris Parker and Jose Villa, conducted a session aimed at bolstering financial literacy among Maywood’s youth.  The financial literacy session took attending youth through a series of exercises involving play money that were designed to reinforce  sound financial principals such as planning, budgeting and saving.  Many participating young people concluded the session with a deeper appreciation for the life-enhancing benefits of education, financial literacy and community.