Youth Council and Coalition for Youth Launch “Community Champion” Program for “Wilton is Where You Belong” Campaign

The Wilton Youth Council has launched a new “Community Champion” program as part of its ongoing “Wilton is Where You Belong” campaign, an effort the WYC created with other town organizations collaborating as the Wilton Coalition for Youth.

The Community Champion program aims to highlight one individual each month who is making a positive difference in the Wilton community.

“The intent of that [‘Where You Belong’] campaign is to foster a sense of belonging within the Wilton community,” WYC Executive Director Chandra Ring explained. “The [Community Champion] is a monthly opportunity to put a spotlight on people who have a positive influence or a commitment to our community and do good,” she said, adding, “It’s an opportunity to highlight all of the wonderful things already taking place.”

So, how does a program spotlighting one Wilton person tie into the broader “Wilton is Where You Belong” campaign? Ring explained that highlighting one person who is involved with the community can set the model for others to get connected in the same way.

“One of the first events for the campaign was the Volunteer Fair in September. We had just under 30 organizations from Wilton represented, and over 500 people looking to get involved in the community came and explored those opportunities to get involved,” Ring said. “Any one of those people has the potential to be a Community Champion because they’re showing up for our community and contributing to the fabric of what makes Wilton the wonderful place to live that it is.”

The wider Wilton community has a vital role to play in identifying a community champion each month. Individuals can nominate a community champion candidate by submitting a brief online nominating form. A group from the Coalition for Youth will review the nominations monthly and select the recipients. The community champion will be announced each month in GOOD Morning Wilton.

Volunteering is just one way someone might be a community champion. Ring noted that a community champion can take many forms — from someone who quietly makes an ongoing positive impact, to someone who had a great idea and ran with it to create something wonderful for the town.

“We want to use this program to celebrate people, be it through volunteer work or someone who goes above and beyond at their job, a student who has a positive impact on other youth in the community, just through kindness acts that they do on an ongoing basis. It doesn’t have to look any particular way. Actually,” Ring continued, “there’s a lot of ways to show up for your community, and we don’t want to limit it to one. People show up in a myriad of different ways, and we want this to be an opportunity to celebrate as many of those things as possible.”

It’s also not meant to be a competition.

“It’s somebody that is having a positive impact in that month or on an ongoing basis. And it’s an opportunity to highlight one person who is doing good, not a request to compete or one-up or challenge people to do more,” she said.

The program is part of the Coalition’s efforts to combat loneliness and help new residents find a sense of belonging in Wilton.

“Loneliness is an epidemic across the country. Wilton has a really high rate of new residents in recent years, and this campaign is hopefully a way to help them find that sense of belonging within the wonderful community we live in, and help counter that loneliness.”

For Wilton Youth Council, an organization focused on Wilton’s youths, officials see helping to spread a sense of belonging to people of all ages in town will have a trickle-down impact. “When the adults in our community are happier, so too are our youth. We’re really looking at different and creative ways to help people find their place within the community.

WYC found a creative way to include one member of their target audience in the Wilton is Where You Belong campaign. The campaign’s logo was designed by Wilton High School senior Zach Coleman. The logo features a circular design with interconnected figures of different colors coming together, symbolizing the community’s unity, acceptance and sense of belonging.

“We thought his logo really embraced that,” Ring said.

“The goal was to make the logo representative of the Coalition’s campaign of inclusivity and combating hate in our community,” Coleman explained. “[It] conveys that Wilton welcomes all people no matter what they look like or where they are from and the interlocking hands conveys that we strive to work together in our community. I truly hope that anyone who sees the logo knows that Wilton is a safe and inviting place.”