In 2017, 1,597 youth, young adults and military veterans across the state engaged in youth corps service programs to protect and conserve Colorado’s land, water and energy resources on public and private lands. One of those corpsmembers is Lafayette’s 16-year-old Daveon Chiles, whose outstanding contributions on behalf of the Boulder County Youth Corps (BCYC) were celebrated on Jan. 29 at the State Capitol. The Colorado Youth Corps Association (CYCA) celebrated Daveon’s achievements by naming him a 2017 Corpsmember of the Year at the annual Youth Corps Awards Ceremony. Keep Reading…
Daveon told his Leaders at the start of the season last summer that he wanted to have fun. They said Daveon’s version of fun is to work hard, improve his community and to help others grow! Daveon met his goal of “Show younger corpsmembers how to get things done the right way” by helping instruct those less familiar with the work and being a strong role model for others to follow. His Leaders said that not a day went by that they didn’t hear, “Hey, Daveon, can you give me some help?” Every time a fellow corpsmember requested some assistance, Daveon was there to help, instruct and support, and always with a great attitude and a smile on his face.
Daveon’s Team Leader, Brian Chamberlin, wrapped up the nomination by stating, “It has been an honor to get to know Daveon and to see him truly own and care about the work he has been doing in the BCYC and for his community.” Daveon said of his first season with the BCYC, “I am bummed that this job is coming to an end. I will be returning next year as I enjoy this work making a change to my city. I’d say this was a great summer!” BCYC program manager Judy Wolfe added, “We are very proud of Daveon and his accomplishments, and hope that he will continue on in the BCYC for many seasons to come.”
In receiving this award, Daveon joins eight other corpsmembers recognized for their exemplary commitment and contributions across Colorado. Scott Segerstrom, CYCA’s executive director, said, “The nine corpsmembers selected for this award represent a highly dedicated group of people, committed to protecting the health and vitality of our state’s natural resources. While every youth corpsmember is a winner, these individuals particularly stand out as people who are clearly part of our great state’s future slate of leaders, and Coloradans will benefit from their efforts for years to come. This honor is richly deserved.”
Among youth corps’ many accomplishments statewide in 2017 were the construction or maintenance of 295 miles of trails; removal of 22,174 invasive or hazard trees; reduction of the threat of wildland fire from 1,726 acres; treatment of 1,803 acres for invasive species; the planting of 4,407 plants and trees and 58 acres of seeds; and the construction, maintenance or removal of 33.65 miles of fence. Youth corps also performed energy audits and installed energy and water-saving measures in the homes of 1,850 clients – resulting in $2,289,498 in lifetime savings over the life cycle of the energy-efficient lightbulbs installed, the equivalent of taking more than 400 cars off the road, and 12.8 million gallons of water saved through high-efficiency toilets, showerheads, and aerators (the equivalent of nearly 19 Olympic-size pools of water).
