Venture Description: Our venture idea is to educate our community in ways that they can protect themselves and loved ones in the event of a natural disaster or in an emergency situation. Our focus would be to provide bilingual (Spanish and English) first aid and disaster preparedness trainings. We want to help people realize they can do something to protect themselves and save other people's lives when it comes to natural disasters and medical emergencies. Many members of our Latino community in East Oakland do not know of the resources that are available to them in times of need like the services of organizations like the Red Cross and we want to change that.

Venture Origin: We were first introduced to the Red Cross last year when we were invited to attend their summer Youth Leadership Development Camp. That experience really inspired us to stay involved with the Red Cross and help prepare our own community. We came up with our venture idea when we were asked if we wanted to become the first Latino youth leaders.

Innovation: We are making life easier for people in our community by getting them prepared for the next big earthquake. We help people see that it is not very hard to plan ahead and establish family communication plans and set aside important supplies. We will give them all the information and tools they need to be able to respond better. The Red Cross needs people like us to be leaders within our community.

Impact: We just received the Youth Venture grant, but our goal is to train 200 people over the next six months in disaster preparedness and first aid so that they will know how to respond in emergencies. We will give out personal First Aid kits to each person we present to. To make this an ongoing community effort, we will expand our membership and become a permanent Red Cross Latino youth team so that it will continue long after we graduate in 2008.

Engagement with the community: We have formed a leadership team and by word of mouth, we are telling all our friends, families and teachers about what we are doing. We work very closely with our adult mentor who works for the Red Cross in Latino Community Preparedness. We have become a permanent Red Cross team of Latino youth leaders and we will recruit and train other Latino youth to lead the effort in their own communities.

Impact and engagement progress since launch: We have made a lot of progress in getting trained ourselves. We attended the Red Cross sponsored NorCal Youth Consorium in January where we attended many helpful workshops and met youth from clubs all over the region. We have gotten trained by the Red Cross in disaster preparedness and first aid. Before we can go out into our community, we must educate and inform ourselves.

Impact and engagement strategy: Our strategy is to lead by example. We will show our friends and classmates how empowering it is to take on a leadership role and be supported by an organization like the Red Cross. The best way to get people interested in learning about what we are teaching is by talking about it all the time. We want people to know there are a lot of things they can do that could potentially save lives.

Awards: Besides the Youth Venture grant, we have not received any other awards yet.

Money raised: We have not received money but we have received free training, materials and resources from the Red Cross.

Creative ways of raising resources: We are planning two upcoming fundraisers. We are selling candy cups at our school for Valentine's Day and we want to raffle off a Red Cross Disaster Supply Kit by the end of the month. We will promote the raffle at our school and at church.

Expansion plan for next 6 months: Next, we will advertise our program at elementary schools, retirement centers, community centers and churches. Our goal is to schedule at least two presentations a month. To begin, our focus will be on children and the elderly, the most vulnerable.

Plans for sustaining the project: Our Venture will be sustainable because it really does not need funding since we have partnered with the Red Cross and they provide all their training and materials for free. We are now part of the Red Cross and this team will exist as long as there are Latino youth interested in being involved.

Vision for three years from now: Three years from now I would like to see more Latino youth getting involved and going out into the community training and educating our community to be prepared. I hope my venture expands beyond the East Oakland community and that Latino youth from all over the Bay are taking on leadership roles and preparing their own communities. The more people reached could mean more people saved.

Project impact: The truth is life is not easy in Oakland. There are a lot of problems in the community and at school. There is a lot of tension and pressure on a lot of people and that is why too many kids turn to violence and get involved with gangs or other bad things. There are not enough leadership opportunities for youth to get involved in something positive. The Red Cross and Youth Venture have made it possible for my friends and me to help my community in a very important way that I did not think was possible before. Life is never easy but I can do all that I can to make life just a little bit easier for people who take the time to listen to what my friends and I have to say. Everyone remembers Hurricane Katrina and how help did not come fast enough for too many people. I do not want the same thing to happen again, especially not to my community and my family. Most people never think of how important it is to have a plan of communication for all family members in case something terrible happens like a disaster that separates them. Most people I know are not aware of what they can do in an emergency situation or do not have some supplies set aside like a first aid kit, food, water, extra batteries and a flashlight to get them through a few days without electricity or medical services. Most people do not realize that they can make their homes safer for when an earthquake hits and that by taking precautions in anticipation of a disaster can make the difference between life and death. I want to change that. I want to show people just how easy it can be to plan ahead, prepare, and be informed. I recently learned about the word to empower and that is exactly what I want to do. I want to empower others with knowledge and information and the necessary tools, like first aid kits, to be able to take care of themselves and their families in case help does not arrive quick enough.

Youth Venture movement - what it means and how you can contribute: Joanna, Noemi and I feel really proud to be part of the Youth Venture movement. We are very grateful for the support it has given us to begin our venture. We started out with big goals and dreams and it is great to think that we can actually accomplish them. We are the first to receive this kind of grant at my school and everyone is always asking us what it is all about and our families are really happy for us. We have all the support and encouragement we need to accomplish our goal of preparing our community. We will always consider ourselves part of the Youth Venture movement even after we graduate from high school and we always be strong supporters of it and tell everyone about it. We signed up to be Youth Venture Ambassadors so we hope that we can contribute further to promoting the Youth Venture movement in that way.