The Metro Mayors Coalition Shannon Grant Summerfest
Annual event for communities involved in the Metro Mayors Shannon Grant to come together and celebrate a safe summer.
Written by Rosemary Volinski, Program Specialist
August 11, 2023 - Local youth, community-based organization workers, and law enforcement officials joined together for this year’s Shannon Grant Summerfest last weekend, in a show of solidarity to support the reduction of both youth violence and gang involvement across Metro Mayors Coalition communities.
On Saturday, August 5, youth from Everett, Malden, Somerville, Revere, Cambridge, Chelsea, and Winthrop competed in the Shannon Grant Summerfest at the Malden Salemwood School. This year’s event was different from previous tournaments and had youth form seven inter-community teams compete in soccer, basketball, and volleyball games, with an MVP for the games named from each community.
In the Summerfest's final event, communities faced off in the All City Basketball Skills Challenge, with Everett emerging victorious and taking home this year's Shannon Summerfest trophy.
Workshops included the Mystic Valley YMCA's mobile music studio, where youth had the opportunity to produce some of their own music, and a slam poetry workshop, where poets from around the region helped youth talk about their experiences with the Shannon program through poetry. We were thrilled to be joined by 2022 Boston Music Awards Spoken Word Artist of the Year, Amanda Shea, who shared some of her own poetry, and worked with youth to make their own.
We were also thrilled to be joined by Malden Mayor Gary Christenson, State Representatives Ultrino and Donato, and staff from Representative Adrian Madaro's office, who offered a citation in recognition of the program's years of success.
An annual summer event has been held since 2009 to bring together youth, law enforcement, and community-based organizations involved in the Metro Mayors Shannon Grant Community Safety Initiative, which is a state-funded program that supports regional approaches to combating gang violence through law enforcement, job training, and after school programs. The event is hosted in a different community each summer and brings together more than 70 youth for a fun summer day of activities.
Head to MAPC’s Instagram page for more photos! For more information on the Shannon Grant or the Metro Mayors Coalition, contact Rosemary Volinski at [email protected].