By Khalida Sarwari
Saratoga High School freshman Joshua Lee was one of three local teens appointed to the Santa Clara County Youth Task Force earlier this month.
Formed by Supervisor Joe Simitian, the task force is composed of 15 high school-aged youth who serve as an advisory body to the board of supervisors and are tasked with making policy recommendations concerning youth in the county.
The members are also responsible for finding ways to improve the lives of young people in the community. They’ve given a presentation at a local high school to raise awareness about mental health issues, and another time they orchestrated a countywide youth survey about issues important to young people.
Joshua applied for the position, which carries a one-year term, over the summer. The 14-year-old’s résumè boasts an impressive volunteer work record. He has volunteered with the community service program City Team, where he helped prepare and distribute food to homeless residents. About once a week, he helps out a San Jose-based group called the Guiding Light Project Church, where he engages in fun activities and shares meals with underprivileged children.
A few years ago Joshua spent four days in an underprivileged neighborhood in Fresno working with Hmong refugees as part of the World Mission Baptist Church in Campbell, where he’s a congregant. This past summer, he went on a mission trip with the church to Guatemala and Guadalajara, where he says he shared food and supplies with the locals.
Joshua said he joined the task force to contribute to his community on a bigger scale.
“I got onto the task force because I felt I needed to do something bigger,” said Joshua. “I was always doing volunteer work with different communities, but I looked into [the youth task force] and realized it was a really good fit for me. I feel like [the task force] lets us have a bigger opportunity to do more stuff throughout our community.”
The group is in the process of identifying their goals for the year and updating some of its bylaws, he said.
“I hope that we benefit the lives of others so that everybody could have equal opportunity to do the things we in Saratoga have and sometimes take for granted,” he said.
Volunteer work aside, Joshua is a member of the Saratoga High basketball team.
The other two teens appointed to the task force are Mountain View resident Krishna Ammini and Amanda Chan of Cupertino.
Link: County appoints a Saratoga teen to serve on the Youth Task Force
